Bio
Dr. Gary Webb teaches in the undergraduate Emergency Administration and Planning Program (EADP) and in the Masters and PhD programs in Public Administration. Prior to coming to UNT, he was a faculty member in the sociology department and the Center for the Study of Disasters and Extreme Events at Oklahoma State University. He has also held research positions at the University of Delaware’s Disaster Research Center. Dr. Webb has conducted extensive research on organizational preparedness for and response to numerous disasters in the United States and abroad. His research has been supported by various agencies, including the U.S. National Science Foundation, and it has appeared in a variety of professional journals, including the International Journal of Mass Emergencies and Disasters, International Journal of Emergency Management, Environmental Hazards, Natural Hazards Review, and Rural Sociology. Most recently, he co-authored Introduction to Emergency Management (2012, CRC Press). His research has also been featured in national media outlets, including the Los Angeles Times, Newsday, and Christian Science Monitor, and he has been invited to teach or present his research to international audiences in Denmark, France, South Korea, The Netherlands, and Turkey. Dr. Webb has received multiple teaching awards, including the 2011 Oklahoma State University Regents Distinguished Teaching Award.
Education
Ph.D., University of Delaware
M.S., University of North Texas
B.S., University of North Texas
Courses
PADM 5500: Public Administration Research Methods I
PADM 6620: Challenges of Disaster Response
Selected Publications
Mendonca, D., Webb, G., & Butts, C. (2010). L’Improvisation dans les interventions d’urgence : Les relations entre cognition, comportement et interactions sociales (Improvisation in emergency response: Linking cognition, behavior, and social interaction). Tracés: Revue de Sciences Humaines, (18): 69–86.
Webb, G.R. (2009). Natural Disasters. Encyclopedia of Death and the Human Experience, 367-375. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
Shriver, T.E., & Webb, G.R. (2009). Rethinking the scope of environmental justice: Perceptions of health hazards in a rural Native American community exposed to carbon black. Rural Sociology, 74(2): 270-292.
More Articles
Thornburg, P.A., Knottnerus, J.D., and Webb, G.R. (2008). Ritual and disruption: Insights from early disaster research. International Journal of Sociological Research, 1: 91-109.
Webb, G.R. (2007). The sociology of disaster. 21st Century Sociology: A Reference Handbook, 278-285. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
Thornburg, P.A., Knottnerus, J.D., and Webb, G.R. (2007). Disaster and deritualization: A re-interpretation of findings from early disaster research. Social Science Journal, 44: 161-166.
Neal, D.M., & Webb, G.R. (2006). Structural barriers to using the National Incident Management System. ,em>Learning from Catastrophe: Quick Response Research in the Wake of Hurricane Katrina, 347-366. Boulder, CO: Natural Hazards Center.
Webb, G.R. (2006). Unraveling the economic consequences of disasters: Sources of resilience and vulnerability. Applied Research in Economic Development, 3, 3-18.
Webb, G.R. (2006). The popular culture of disaster: Exploring a new dimension of disaster research. Handbook of Disaster Research, 430-440. York: Springer.
Webb, G.R., & Chevreau, F.R. (2006). Planning to improvise: The importance of creativity and flexibility in crisis response. International Journal of Emergency Management, 3, 66-72.
Selected Presentations
Webb, G.R., Shriver, T.E., & Steidley, T. (2011). Clearing the air: The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's response to allegations of wrongdoing in the aftermath of 9/11. Annual Meeting of the Southwestern Social Science Association, Las Vegas, NV.
Webb, G.R. (2010). The good and bad news about businesses and disasters. Disaster Recovery Conference for Business and Industry, University of Arkansas, Little Rock Institute for Economic Advancement, Little Rock, AR.
Dillon-Merrill, R., & Webb, G.R. (2009). Risk and vulnerability. Workshop for the National Science Foundation-funded project, Enabling the Next Generation of Hazards and Disaster Researchers, Broomfield, CO.
More Presentations
Mendonca, D., Butts, C.T., & Webb, G.R. (2008). Improvisation in emergency response: Linking cognition, behavior, and social interaction. Oklahoma City National Memorial Institute for the Prevention of Terrorism.
Webb, G.R. (2008). Foreseeable failures and fantasy fixes: Some keys to surviving future disasters. Conference on Surviving Future Disasters, Stephenson Disaster Management Institute and the Swedish National Defense College, Baton Rouge, LA.
