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Examining Rural and Border Emergency Management Infrastructure: An East Palestine Case Study

Award Number: F31ES038016
ORGANIZATION: NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH SCIENCES
OPDIV: NIH
AWARD CLASS: DISCRETIONARY
AWARD ACTIVITY TYPE: FELLOWSHIP/SCHOLARSHIP/STUDENT LOANS
PERIOD OF PERFORMANCE START DATE: 06/01/2026
PERIOD OF PERFORMANCE END DATE: 05/31/2028

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Examining Rural and Border Emergency Management Infrastructure: An East Palestine Case Study - PROJECT SUMMARY: The rural village of East Palestine, Ohio and its Surrounding Communities (EPSC) have faced an environmental disaster since February 2023 when a Norfolk Southern freight train derailed, releasing over 2,000,000 gallons of hazardous chemicals (including vinyl chloride) into the air, soil, and water. Emergency responders purposively ignited the volatile chemicals to prevent a potential explosion, in turn releasing even more carcinogenic toxicants arising from combustion into the community. The definitive extent of the derailment, including health impacts and repercussions from community and governmental response, remains to be seen. However, early evidence suggests that residents have faced economic hardships, ongoing health problems, and eco-psycho-social disruptions in the wake of the derailment. This research explores the disaster’s emergency management system and existing gaps within it to inform best practices for future disaster response in marginalized communities. NIEHS’ current strategic plan establishes advancing evidence-based health promotion interventions, expanding health-equity disaster research, and integrating social sciences for effective translational science as key themes and priorities necessary to progress health and the field of environmental health sciences; these priorities have informed this fellowship’s research design and training plan. This research design adopts a pragmatic explanatory sequential mixed methods approach. This study will provide insights as to how emergency management networks in rural and border communities adapt, or fail to adapt, during emergency response. The central hypothesis of this proposal is that differences between planned vs. actual organizational emergency response networks indicate beneficial or burdensome adaptations that should be reflected in policy. Aim I will create and analyze interorganizational social networks for both planned and observed emergency management in EPSC to reveal policy-to-practice gaps. Aim II investigates how the structure of the observed emergency response network evolved to reveal temporal shifts in disaster management efficiency. Aim III presents the network structures and analyses from previous aims to key stakeholders in the network to contextualize network differences and dynamics through key informant interviews. The expected outcomes of this research are: (1) a comprehensive understanding of how response organizations functioned before, during, and after the East Palestine train derailment; and (2) actionable recommendations for enhancing emergency response infrastructure in rural or border communities facing environmental disasters. The combined educational and research support from Case Western Reserve University, my multidisciplinary team of mentors, and my thorough training plan will prepare me to complete this translational research rural and border communities as well as provide the skills necessary for me to thrive as a disaster epidemiologist.


Issue Date FY	Funding FY	Legal Entity Name	Legal Entity Address	Legal Entity City	Legal Entity State	Legal Entity Zip Code	Legal Entity COUNTY	Legal Entity COUNTRY	Assistance Listing	Award Code	Budget Year	Action Date	Action Type	Action Amount

Issue Date FY: 2026 ( Subtotal = $49,418 )
2026	2026	CASE WESTERN RESERVE UNIVERSITY	10900 EUCLID AVE	CLEVELAND	OH	44106	CUYAHOGA	USA	Environmental Health	000	1	5/20/2026	NEW	$49,418
2026	2026	CASE WESTERN RESERVE UNIVERSITY	10900 EUCLID AVE	CLEVELAND	OH	44106	CUYAHOGA	USA	Environmental Health	001	1	5/20/2026	NEW	$0
														Subtotal = $49,418

Grand Total All Awards = $49,418

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Examining Rural and Border Emergency Management Infrastructure: An East Palestine Case Study

Award Number: F31ES038016

ORGANIZATION: NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH SCIENCES

OPDIV: NIH

AWARD CLASS: DISCRETIONARY

AWARD ACTIVITY TYPE: FELLOWSHIP/SCHOLARSHIP/STUDENT LOANS

PERIOD OF PERFORMANCE START DATE: 06/01/2026

PERIOD OF PERFORMANCE END DATE: 05/31/2028

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