Megan Finn: Understanding disasters and information

UW Information School Assistant Professor Megan Finn is passionate about disasters — specifically, understanding how they shape the way people share and use information.

After earning her B.S. in Computer Science at the University of Michigan, Finn, who joined the Information School in July, 2014, spent three years as a Research Engineer at Hewlett Packard in Silicon Valley. After that, she entered U.C. Berkeley’s School of Information, where she earned her master’s and Ph.D., spending the last two years as a postdoctoral researcher with the Social Media Collective at Microsoft Research New England in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

“I started graduate school in 2005, right about the time of Hurricane Katrina,” Finn said. “Like most other Americans, I was pretty horrified at what I saw. I started thinking about ways I could use my background to help.”

Finn began extensively reading reports coming out of New Orleans to try to understand more about how information about the disaster was being shared. To get a first-hand sense of what was going on, Finn joined a group of journalism graduate students and traveled to New Orleans in 2006 to photographically document the destruction as well as reconstruction efforts.

“That was an influential experience for me,” Finn said. “I ultimately decided I was really interested in doing something about my own community in the Bay Area. I was passionate about the history of information. And I knew if I wanted to focus on northern California and on disasters that had actually happened, I was going to have to look historically.”

Finn began diving into research on three major Bay Area earthquakes, in in 1868, 1906, and 1989.  The fruits of her research will be available in her book Documenting Aftermath: Event Epistemology and the Informatics of Disaster, which will be published by MIT Press. In the book, Finn looks at these major disasters through the lens of the history of information and communication infrastructures.

“It’s a matter of understanding all these little decisions that happen in a moment during disasters,” Finn said. “It helps us understand why we have the particular mix of institutions we have today. Looking at the past helps us understand how information infrastructures shape the stories we tell about disasters.”

“In some ways, the past looks very familiar,” Finn said. “Even in the 1860’s, people’s first reaction was to check in with their friends and family in the dangerous areas. Although today we’d use Facebook and Twitter, the response is similar.”

“Things in the past also look incredibly unfamiliar. In the 1868 earthquake, for example, there was no organization like FEMA on a national scale, or even emergency operations locally. Today, citizens expect that if something happens, the government is going to do something to help us. In 1868, that wasn’t the case.”

Since her book is coming out soon, Finn is looking to her new community at the iSchool for inspiration and partnerships for her next project.

“I didn’t really have much connection to Seattle before we moved here. But I’ve always kept an eye on UW’s iSchool. I feel so lucky to be in a great city like Seattle. It’s a very easy place to live, and campus is gorgeous. It’s a pleasure to come to work every day.

“Wherever I am, I like doing local work, to get out into the community. I’m originally from Boston, and my last project really transformed my relationship with the Bay Area. I’d love to do a project that helps me get to know Seattle better.”

Specifically, Finn would like to study the history of technology and information in Seattle. And she’s looking for partners who share her interest in taking a historical approach to information studies.

“I’d like to understand what makes the information technology industry in Seattle unique. I would love readers who are interested in the history of information to get in touch with me.”