Dr. Brittany Brand, Director of the Hazard and Climate Resilience Institute (HCRI), has been awarded the 2025 President’s Community Service Award for her visionary leadership in advancing community-engaged scholarship across Idaho and beyond. Since founding HCRI, Dr. Brand has established a model of university-community partnership for resilience planning—one rooted in collaboration, public impact, and long-term relationship-building. Through her leadership, HCRI has supported more than a dozen interdisciplinary projects and engaged thousands of community members, students, and university affiliates.
Under her direction, the institute has secured over $2 million in research funding (with an additional $1.3 million pending), expanded service learning and workforce development opportunities for more than 30 Boise State students and 3 postdoctoral scholars, and emerged as a catalyst for cross-sector resilience solutions. HCRI exemplifies how universities can advance community-engaged scholarship, foster student success, and drive public impact through community-driven, collaborative engagement.
In response to receiving this award, Dr. Brand notes: “This recognition reflects the collective strength of the HCRI team—faculty, staff, students, and community partners—who come together with a shared purpose. Our successes are grounded in deep collaboration and a commitment to co-creating solutions alongside the communities we serve, helping to meet their unique challenges and support long-term resilience.”