Kathleen Tierney
Professor, Department of Sociology and Institute of Behavioral Science
Director, Natural Hazards Center
University of Colorado at Boulder
Areas: Hazards, disasters, and risk; qualitative research methods; environmental sociology; collective behavior
I have spent my career studying the societal dimensions of hazards and disasters, focusing on topics such as risk perception; disaster preparedness, response, and recovery; the political economy of hazards and disasters; emergency management; and other issues associated with societal responses to low-probability/high consequence events. The Natural Hazards Center, which I direct, serves as a national and international repository and information source for social science knowledge on hazard- and disaster-related issues, and also conducts research on hazards of all types. For the past several years, I have worked to build bridges between the hazards and climate change research and policy communities. I have served on two National Academies committees on climate change: the Panel on Strategies and Methods for Climate Related Decision Support, which produced the report Informing Decisions in a Changing Climate (2009), and the America’s Climate Choices Panel on Informing Effective Decisions and Actions Related to Climate Change. I also serve on the advisory committee for the NSF IGERT project on Climate Change, Humans, and Nature in the Global Environment (C-CHANGE), which is directed by sociologist Joane Nagel at the University of Kansas.
Relevant publications:
Tierney, K., M. Lindell, and R. Perry 2001. Facing the Unexpected: Disaster Preparedness and Response in the United States. Washington, DC: Joseph Henry Press.
Tierney, K. 2005. “Social inequality, hazards, and disasters.” Pp. 109- 128 in On Risk and Disaster: Lessons from Hurricane Katrina. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press.
Tierney, K. 2007. “From the margins to the mainstream? Disaster research at the crossroads.” Annual Review of Sociology 33: 503-525.
W. Waugh, Jr. and K. Tierney. 2007. Emergency Management: Principles and Practice for Local Government. Washington, DC: International City and County Management Association.