While we have emphasized the value of research throughout this book, werecognize that experience also matters . Indeed, one of the many challenges theprofession of emergency management faces today is bridging the gap betweenresearch and practice . Thus, in addition to citing research studies, we have alsointegrated our many years of experience—gained through extensive fieldwork,volunteering, consulting, and serving as federal subject matter experts —throughout this book, and so in places where references are not indicated, con-tent originates from those experiences . While this textbook is based primarilyon our cumulative years of experience, conducting research and teaching in thefield, we have benefitted from the constructive feedback of many who adopted thefirst edition for their courses and anonymous reviewers for the second edition .We have incorporated many of their suggestions by including more coverageof federal-level disaster policies, addressing international issues throughout thisbook, and providing up-to-date examples of recent disasters .

As we have finalized the revisions of this second edition over the past fewmonths, we have witnessed several major disasters: another round of massiveflooding in Houston, Texas; a devastating earthquake in Ecuador; and tragic ter-rorist attacks in Paris, Brussels, Pakistan, and San Bernardino . While each ofthese disasters is unique, there are also many important commonalities amongthem . In this book, you will be introduced to the principles of effective emer-gency management that are essential to understanding those commonalities,enhancing societal resilience, and improving our ability to effectively managefuture disasters .