Humanitarian Assistance

Digging out from disaster by digging into data

Nathan Kahl — Mon, 10 Aug 2026 16:52:30 +0000

Digging out from disaster by digging into data Nathan Kahl Mon, 08/10/2026 - 12:52

In This Story

In the aftermath of a devastating earthquake, the world turns its attention to the affected region, watching search-and-rescue teams race to save lives, supplies pour in, and journalists talk to impacted residents. While the focus usually only lasts for several days, for those at the Humanitarian Informatics Lab in 91��'s Department of Information Sciences and Technology, another phase begins after the cameras leave.

"The response is critical, but recovery continues for months and years," said ab director Hemant Purohit, co-director of the Center for Resilient, Adaptable, and Safe Communities (C-RASC). That's where he feels he and his colleagues can make the greatest contribution.

Purohit’s approach builds on decades-long collective expertise of C-RASC colleagues and nearly a decade of work on human-centered AI technologies by the Humanitarian Informatics Lab, which develops technologies that transform large volumes of data into practical decision-making tools for disaster response and humanitarian operations.

A man and dog search through earthquake rubble. iStock photo.

For example, within days of the June 2026 earthquake in Venezuela, Purohit and colleagues at C-RASC began asking how George Mason could help organizations that will be rebuilding communities long after the immediate crisis passes. The answer became the Venezuela Earthquake Recovery Initiative, a collaboration between George Mason's C-RASC and the Gulfstream Foundation that is developing artificial intelligence and data-driven tools to support governments, nonprofit organizations, and humanitarian agencies during the long-term recovery effort. The team will soon approach the U.S. State Department about using their tools to assist the South American country as it recovers.

Lin Wells, executive advisor to C-RASC, noted that George Mason has much to offer. “From our years of experience, we’ve found that those who want to help must recognize technology alone is never enough. They must build trust with local people and develop solutions along with them. Sociology always tops technology. Also, rebuilding efforts should empower the damaged communities to keep developing on their own after the aid ends. Don’t just bounce back, bounce forward better.”

“Information is essential as interventions remain dynamic and earthquake visible effects are static,” said Gilberto Guevara, a humanitarian expert affiliated with GulfStream and C-RASC, with over 35 years of work in the humanitarian world. “One hopeful sign is to track progress and share the joy of constant activity. Information flows, validated and verified, are what make the difference and keep the momentum going.”

Rather joining the crowded emergency response underway, the team chose to focus where its expertise could have the greatest impact. "Showing up without the right capabilities during the response phase can be counterproductive," Purohit said. "Instead, we asked how research and technology could provide information for the organizations leading recovery."

One technology is Citizen-Helper, a platform launched in 2016. Originally developed through National Science Foundation–supported research, it uses social media and citizen-generated information to identify needs emerging in disaster-affected regions. During the Venezuela recovery effort, Citizen-Helper is being adapted to understand what people are requesting, where those requests originate, and how needs vary across different communities.

"If people are talking about shelter, clothing, medical care, or volunteers, we want to be able to identify those patterns quickly," Purohit said. "That kind of citizen-generated information can provide valuable information."

The team is also developing the AI-powered Recovery Intelligence and Support Engine (RISE), combining geospatial mapping with conversational artificial intelligence. The platform solves disaster recovery's persistent challenge of having too much information spread across too many sources.

"Our goal is to make complex information easier to access for the people making important decisions," Purohit said. "Instead of searching through scattered datasets, they can interact with the vast amount of information in a much more intuitive way."

The project grew out of ongoing collaboration with the Gulfstream Foundation, an organization with extensive experience supporting resilience efforts in Puerto Rico. During a regularly scheduled meeting the week of the earthquake, participants shifted from discussing existing projects to exploring how they could support recovery in Venezuela.

The team brings experience from multiple major disasters, including crisis mapping efforts, Puerto Rico recovery initiatives after the 2017 hurricane season, and humanitarian relief coordination since the Haiti earthquake in 2010. The informed strategy focuses on practical tools rather than theoretical research.

Future adaptation of these tools could help convert damage assessment data into recommendations for health care delivery, support temporary housing decisions, and provide analytics that identify communities at risk of being overlooked.

For Purohit, the initiative reflects the broader mission of the Humanitarian Informatics Lab and C-RASC: using engineering and artificial intelligence to strengthen the work of those serving communities during times of crisis.

Topics

Humanitarian Assistance

big data analytics

Research

Artificial Intelligence

College of Engineering and Computing

Remembering Former President Jimmy Carter: Statesman, Humanitarian, and Peacemaker

Paul Snodgrass — Sun, 29 Dec 2024 22:30:48 +0000

Remembering Former President Jimmy Carter: Statesman, Humanitarian, and Peacemaker Paul Snodgrass Sun, 12/29/2024 - 17:30

91��’s Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter School for Peace and Conflict Resolution Remembers Former President Jimmy Carter: Statesman, Humanitarian, and Peacemaker

Former President Jimmy Carter holding the Nobel Peace Prize in 2002. Photo credit: the Carter Center.

The Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter School for Peace and Conflict Resolution at 91�� remembers James “Jimmy” Earl Carter, Jr. 39th President of the United States, as an agent of peace. We send our deepest condolences to his family.

“President Carter’s unwavering dedication to peace has been, and will continue to be, our beacon and guide. Our school’s name is a tribute to President Carter’s commitment to the worldwide peaceful resolution of conflict, which is imperative in today's world, as we face many entrenched and emerging human security threats,” said Carter School Dean Alpaslan Özerdem. “We will further his legacy in conflict resolution through our research and practice. His insight, passion, and love for peace will remain our inspiration in educating future peacemakers.”

Former U.S. President Jimmy Carter and his wife, Rosalynn, celebrating President Carter's Nobel Peace Prize, awarded in December 2002. Photo credit: The Carter Center.

“President Carter showed us that the American presidency can be even more than the pinnacle of political power. It can also be a prelude to far greater humanitarian works,” said George Mason President Gregory Washington. “Tirelessly, humbly, and often unheralded, he led the eradication of Guinea worm in Africa, assured free and fair elections, and devoted thousands of hours of manual labor to help build homes for those in need. In his life, he saved countless lives, brought dignity to countless more, and spread peace throughout our world.”

President, father, husband, author, teacher, Nobel Peace Prize recipient, humanitarian, and peacebuilder, Jimmy Carter led by example. Prior to his election to the presidency in 1976, he served as both Georgia Governor and Georgia State Senator. During his term as president, the Department of Education and the Department of Energy were created.

Carter expanded the national park system and environmental protection legislation. He negotiated the Torrijos-Carter Treaties (1978) and signed the SALT II Treaty with the Soviet Union (1979). He was, perhaps, best known for his mediation efforts in realizing the Camp David Accords between Egypt and Israel in 1978. Titled the “Framework for Peace in the Middle East,” these dialogues paved the way for peace between these countries, even when such an outcome seemed remote.

Post-presidency, Jimmy Carter conducted peace negotiations and worked to eradicate disease in developing nations. He founded the Carter Center in 1982, and through the center, helped mediate conflicts in Ethiopia and Eritrea, North Korea, Liberia, Haiti, Bosnia, Sudan, Venezuela, and many more war-torn countries. For decades, Jimmy and his wife, Rosalynn, were prominent and active figures in Habitat for Humanity across the globe.

In 2002, Jimmy Carter was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for his “decades of untiring effort to find peaceful solutions to international conflicts, to advance democracy and human rights, and to promote economic and social development.” He is one of only four U.S. Presidents to receive this honor.

On October 1st, to celebrate his 100th birthday, 91�� awarded President Carter an honorary doctor of humane letters to honor his legacy of selfless dedication to peace and a more just and peaceful world.

Jimmy Carter’s dedication to peace and justice was an example to peacebuilders and mediators and his efforts inspired the renaming of George Mason’s School for Conflict Analysis and Resolution in his honor in 2020. He will be remembered by the staff, faculty, and students at the Carter School and the entire peacebuilding community for his tireless and selfless contributions to peace.

About the Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter School for Peace and Conflict Resolution

91��’s Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter School for Peace and Conflict Resolution is a community of faculty, students, staff, alumni, and partners with a fundamental commitment to building peace. Through the development of cutting-edge theory, research, education, and practical work, we seek to identify and address the underlying causes of conflict and provide tools for ethical and just peacebuilding on the local, national, and global stages.

About 91��

91�� is Virginia’s largest public research university. Located near Washington, D.C., Mason enrolls more than 40,000 students from 130 countries and all 50 states. Mason has grown rapidly over the past half-century and is recognized for its innovation and entrepreneurship, remarkable diversity, and commitment to accessibility. In 2023, the university launched Mason Now: Power the Possible, a one-billion-dollar comprehensive campaign to support student success, research, innovation, community, and stewardship. Learn more at gmu.edu.

Engage with the Legacy of Jimmy Carter

Members of the Carter School community are sharing their memories and thoughts honoring Jimmy Carter.

View and Share thoughts of President Carter's Legacy

Contribute to the Carter School Legacy Fund for the Study and Practice of Peace Processes

Our story of becoming the Carter School in 2020

In This Story

Alpaslan Özerdem

Gregory Washington

Topics

Carter School for Peace and Conflict Resolution

Humanitarian Assistance

Ernest Ogbozor

Paul Snodgrass — Mon, 08 Aug 2022 18:19:04 +0000

Ernest Ogbozor Paul Snodgrass Mon, 08/08/2022 - 14:19

Adjunct Faculty, Carter School

Contact Information

Email: eogbozor@gmu.edu

Biography

Dr. Ernest Ogbozor is a scholar-practitioner of conflict and development, peacebuilding, and humanitarian action. He was a recipient of the Ford Foundation International Fellowship and taught at George Washington University, Northeastern University, and Brandeis University. His research addresses two fundamental questions: to understand the micro-level impact of conflict and the strategies used by local communities to cope with violence and protect their livelihoods. His recent research focuses on understanding household resilience to violent extremism in the African Sahel and the Lake Chad Basin. His professional experience includes work at the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) as a frontline humanitarian response officer, research contractor for the United States Institute of Peace (USIP), and monitoring & evaluation consultant at Search for Common Ground (SfCG). He previously worked for TechnoServe Inc., Enterprise for Development International (EfDI), and Prisoners Rehabilitation and Welfare Action (PRAWA/Nigeria).

Degrees

Ph.D., Conflict Analysis and Resolution, 91��

MDiv, Practical Theology and Peacebuilding, Virginia Theological Seminary

MA, Sustainable International Development, Brandeis University

MBA, International Business Management, Lagos State University

BS, Agricultural Economics, University of Benin

Research Interests

Conflict Resolution
International Development
Humanitarian Assistance
Peacebuilding
Informal Security

Publications

Ogbozor E.N. “Co-existence in Boko Haram’s Caliphate: Making a Living in Militant

Controlled Areas in Rural Borno, Nigeria.” African Journal for the Prevention and

Combating of Terrorism (AJPCT), 2020.

Ogbozor E.N. “From Counter-terrorism to Livelihood Destruction: Factors Causing Systemic And Continuing Destruction of Livelihoods in the Lake Chad Basin.” African Journal for the Prevention and Combating of Terrorism (AJPCT), 2019. http://caert.org.dz/Publications/Journal/Journal-19-1.pdf

Ogbozor E.N. Protectors or Outlaws? The CJTF of Nigeria Show the Benefits and Challenges of Working with Civilian Security Actors. Africa Defense Forum, May 3, 2019 (Pages 44-48). http://adf-magazine.com/protectors-or-outlaws/.

Ogbozor, E. N., Mara L. Schoeny, and Andrew E. Baer. "Preventing torture for people

deprived of freedom: The Atlantic Hope and Black Swan Prison Model." Torture Journal 27.1. 2017. https://tidsskrift.dk/torture-journal/article/view/26535

Ogbozor, E.N. “Resilience to Violent Extremism: The Rural Livelihood Coping Strategies in the Lake Chad Basin.” Households in Conflict Network, Institute for Development Studies (IDS), 2016.

Ogbozor, E.N. “Understanding the Informal Security Sector in Nigeria.” Washington DC:

United States Institute of Peace, 2016. https://www.usip.org/publications/2016/09/understanding-informal-security-sector-nigeria

Humanitarian Assistance

Digging out from disaster by digging into data

In This Story

Topics

Remembering Former President Jimmy Carter: Statesman, Humanitarian, and Peacemaker

About the Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter School for Peace and Conflict Resolution

About 91����

Engage with the Legacy of Jimmy Carter

Our story of becoming the Carter School in 2020

In This Story

Topics

Ernest Ogbozor

Contact Information

Biography

Degrees

Research Interests

Publications

About 91��