Ann Masten, PhD, Regents Professor, Distinguished McKnight University Professor, and Irving B. Harris Professor of Child Development at the Institute of Child Development (ICD), was recently featured in a Popular Science article that discussed how natural disasters affect the children who live through them. 

The article highlighted a recent study that compared the academic performance of children highly impacted by bushfires in Victoria, Australia, to those who experienced little to no impact. The study found that children who were highly impacted showed slower academic progress four years after the natural disaster.

“I think that schools need to recognize the importance of their role, not just in an immediate crisis, but over the long term, both in supporting learning and building a capacity for resilience,” Masten said. “It’s clear that we need more high-quality research going forward to inform what we should be doing, during the short and long term, to build up our capacity to withstand what we know are coming disasters.”