Max Erdemandi Wins 2025–2026 Waterhouse Family Institute (WFI) Research Grant

Congrats to Max on his exceptional work!

COMM Ph.D. Candidate Max Erdemandi has been selected as one of ten 2025-2026 Waterhouse Family Institute (WFI) Research Grant recipients. Housed out of Villanova University, The Waterhouse Family Institute for the Study of Communication and Society funds innovative research projects by scholars and doctoral students across the world to support the important and complex study of communication and social change.

Erdemandi's project with UMD Ph.D. Candidate Lahne Mattas-Curry, “State(s) of emergency: Decentralizing federal disaster communication and response, and its consequences for environmentally and socially marginalized communities,” will examine the consequences of shifting disaster communication and response from federal agencies (e.g., FEMA, EPA, NOAA, CDC) to state and local governments. Focusing on structurally marginalized regions such as Central Appalachia, they will investigate how decentralization may intensify social and environmental inequalities.

The researchers look forward to contributing to ongoing debates on crisis governance, institutional erosion, and communicative equity. Their project aligns with the Waterhouse Family Institute’s mission by centering community voices and addressing the structural consequences of communication system failures.

Congrats on this excellent achievement!