About

My interest in disasters began with contrast. As a wildland firefighter in Oregon and Washington, I was part of a system mobilizing well to respond to crisis. As a volunteer helping New Orleanians recover after Hurricane Katrina, I saw how similar systems could fail catastrophically. I set out to understand why disaster management succeeds in some cases, fails in others, and how to close that gap.

I’ve spent the twenty years since pursuing that question across four continents, twelve countries, and a range of organizations — as a disaster risk reduction officer with Concern Worldwide, a critical infrastructure researcher at Stanford University, and as a Social Scientist at the RAND Corporation and Professor of Policy Analysis at the RAND Graduate School. I am now principal of Polyrisk Consulting LLC.

My consulting work spans research, policy analysis, and strategy for technology companies, governments, and international organizations. As a Principal Investigator, I have secured more than $5 million in competitive funding from NSF, NIH, CDC, DHS, and the National Academies, including $2M from CDC and $1.5M from DHS, and have partnered with organizations including Waymo and the UN. My approach combines systems thinking, social science methods, and hands-on practitioner experience. I am the author of roughly 100 publications, including work in Nature, Science Advances, Disasters, and Lancet Planetary Health.

I have an MSc and PhD in Humanitarian Action. My dissertation focused on community-driven disaster management and governance.