Venezuela's Cautionary Tale for US FEMA Reform
How years of political instability accelerated a humanitarian crisis into a catastrophe, and how it informs our current moment
Latest
Triple Threats, Compounding Disasters
How the earthquakes and typhoons of September-November 2025 in the Philippines show the knock-on effects of climate change — and political tides
Go Ahead and Overshare. It Might Give You the Answers You're Looking For
Why locking ourselves behind "social acceptability" might be undermining our resilience after disasters
Answering Love Rebels' Questions
Thinking more deeply about activism and myself as an activist in emergency management
Could Social Outcasts Hold a Key to Disaster Response?
People worry about "crime" immediately after disaster. Directing people's energy to response could be a solution
My First Graduate Class Was a Success. I Still Don't Have a Clear Path
My career has been an endless series of pivots made in survival mode. Emergency management may be no different
A Reblog From The Conversation: Why Disasters Still Happen
I don't always overestimate my ability to juggle multiple projects, but when I do, I go big
The Groups We Trust, the Crowds We Don't
How we define a "mob" has everything to do with response to regional and national emergencies
How to Organize When You're Not Good at It
A review of Love Rebels: How I Learned to Burn Things Down Without Burning Out
Another Unconventional Step in an Unconventional Career Path
How 2025 encouraged me to loosen my grip and embrace a softer, better rounded version of myself
Have Our Online Lives Eroded Our Communities?
And can we bring ourselves back from collapse?
If FEMA Goes Away, Could Communities Step Up?
Three books offer a vision of future disaster recovery – if we can come together in mutuality
disaster-recovery
If Disaster Response Shifts to States, How Can Communities Respond?
Waiting for rescue probably isn't sustainable for any of us
community
Organizing in Community, Also When You Have No Experience
Stepping up isn't just about collecting training or experience. It's also about healing past trauma.
emergency-management
Taking Experiential Training When You Have No Experience
Learning as much as I can from people who know a lot better than I do... and my own instincts
disaster-recovery
Twenty Years After I Wrote About Emergency Management Topics, Where Do Things Stand Now?
The more things change, the more they've stayed the same, only maybe with more political urgency
emergency-management
What's a Girl Have to Do to Get Into a Graduate Program?
There's explaining why I want to get this degree. Then there's bleeding on the page.
emergency-management
How I Updated My Resume to Move Towards a Brand New Career
The way I was able to see and appreciate just how much I've accomplished over the years, and to frame it all in a way that felt the most authentic to me
disaster-recovery
Following the Action Steps in Navigating the Chaos
Now that I'm rebuilding my entire life from the ground up, I'm more feeling my way along than planning my steps
emergency-management
Leadership, Trauma, and the Space for Connection Between Them
Rarely can we admit that our carefully crafted structures may not always be the right ones for the circumstances
community
What Does Intentional, Human Centered Disaster Response Look Like?
Nothing much can get done unless and until people feel safe, seen and heard before they can act effectively.
community
The Importance of Human Response to Systemic Failure
Trauma is arguably a part of life, but also arguably, hardship can be prevented from ever becoming trauma by loving care and compassion
healing
A reintroduction
We don't talk about what happens or how to manage when the losses keep piling on
community
Five Years After My Dystopian Fiction Was Published, I’m Afraid It Might Actually Be Coming True
What I never expected in writing to process my layoffs as well as my privilege