Professor of Public Policy, North Carolina State University

I am a professor of public policy in the School of Public and International Affairs at North Carolina State University. I am also the Associate Dean for Research and Engagement in the College of Humanities and Social Sciences

My research work has two broad, overlapping themes. I am a theorist of the public policy process, working in the "policy process" tradition to understand how public policy changes. I am particularly interested in whether and to what extent policy changes as the result of sudden events we call focusing events.​​

My NC State webpage has more about my research at http://go.ncsu.edu/birkland

I am also an internationally known expert in the politics of disasters and crises. I have studied a range of such events, from oil spills to nuclear power accidents, to earthquakes, hurricanes, and other natural phenomena. I've also written about food poisoning, schools shootings, and other events that changed--or, perhaps, should have changed--public policy. My current research is on risk communication and policy tools in reaction to the COVID-19 pandemic. Learn more about that research team at https://www.riskandsocialpolicy.org/