Dr Christine Eriksen's work focuses on social dimensions that underpin disaster vulnerability and resilience. It untangles a mesh of human-environment relations to better understand changing political and environmental contexts.
Her current research in Australia and North America, as well as previous work in Africa, examines the trade-offs people make between risks and benefits in the context of wildfire. She contextualises these trade-offs at scales ranging from individual households and community networks to official management agencies.
Christine was selected as a World Social Science Risk Interpretation and Action Fellow in 2013, awarded the Australian Research Council's Discovery Early Career Research Award in 2015 and a Discovery Project in 2017, and was named as a UOW Woman of Impact in 2016 as part of the Science in Australia Gender Equity (SAGE) program.
Research interests and expertise:
Current Research Projects:
Bushfire, faith and community cohesion
This project focuses on the affective and embodied experiences of coping and caring narrated by disaster recovery workers in Australia in the context of adapting to extreme but increasingly frequent natural hazard events, such as bushfires. The study extends the concept of the holding environment to disaster geographies. Here, the holding environment comprise the strategies that individuals and groups have developed to cope with risks and exposure, through their embodied responses, and the observed responses of others, to the impact of potential and actual harm. Each component within the holding environment aligns with one of two types of faith, which provide safe spaces (mentally, spiritually, physically and geographically) for disaster recovery workers to confide, grow and heal. These safe spaces, in turn, provide anchor points and sense of purpose. They also accentuate the individual and collective choices we face in terms of mitigating and adapting to changing natural and political climates. An Australian Research Council (ARC) Discovery Early Career Research Award (DE150101242) funds this project.
Gender and wildfire
This project has since 2007 followed women’s and men’s stories of surviving, fighting, living and working with wildfire in Australia and North America. It has revealed the cultural norms and historical behavioral patterns that underpin vulnerability and resilience among firefighters, wildfire survivors, residents at-risk, and Aboriginal land stewards. To learn about the research findings, see the publications section, as well as the videos, web-links and case studies.
When disaster strikes: under-insurance in an age of volatility
There is a growing concern in Australia and internationally of the extensive social and economic costs of disasters, and with it an acknowledgement of our inadequate understanding of the role of insurance in disaster mitigation, preparation and recovery. A 2017 report by Deloitte Access Economics outlined how in the ten years leading up to 2016, the total cost of ‘natural’ disasters in Australia averaged $18.2 billion per annum. When disasters strike, home and contents insurance provides a safety net but many households are under-insured or not insured at all. The average uninsured loss for each ‘natural’ disaster in Australia between 2004 and 2011 was estimated by Lloyds at almost $1 billion. Little is known about the factors that contribute to these rates of inadequate insurance cover. This project attempts to bridge this knowledge gap by examining perceptions of risk and insurance amongst residents both with and without direct personal experience of bushfires. It strives to assist the development of insurance policies and implementation strategies that meet the needs of residents. An ARC Discovery Project (DP170100096) with Dr Booth (UTAS), Prof Tranter (UTAS), Ass/Prof French (Uni. of Nottingham) funds this project.
Year | Title |
---|---|
2017 - 2020 | Awarded by: Funding Scheme: Discovery Projects |
2015 - 2018 | Awarded by: Funding Scheme: Discovery Early Career Researcher Award (DECRA) |
Awarded by: Funding Scheme: Community Resilience Innovation Program (CRIP) |
Degree | Research Title | Advisee | |
---|---|---|---|
Doctor of Philosophy | The Long Winter: A comparative study of leadership, diversity and inclusion in the guiding and avalanche profession in Canada and New Zealand | Reimer, Rachel |
School of Geography and Sustainable Communities
Faculty of Social Sciences
University of Wollongong
NSW
2522
Australia
Research interests and expertise:
Current Research Projects:
Bushfire, faith and community cohesion
This project focuses on the affective and embodied experiences of coping and caring narrated by disaster recovery workers in Australia in the context of adapting to extreme but increasingly frequent natural hazard events, such as bushfires. The study extends the concept of the holding environment to disaster geographies. Here, the holding environment comprise the strategies that individuals and groups have developed to cope with risks and exposure, through their embodied responses, and the observed responses of others, to the impact of potential and actual harm. Each component within the holding environment aligns with one of two types of faith, which provide safe spaces (mentally, spiritually, physically and geographically) for disaster recovery workers to confide, grow and heal. These safe spaces, in turn, provide anchor points and sense of purpose. They also accentuate the individual and collective choices we face in terms of mitigating and adapting to changing natural and political climates. An Australian Research Council (ARC) Discovery Early Career Research Award (DE150101242) funds this project.
Gender and wildfire
This project has since 2007 followed women’s and men’s stories of surviving, fighting, living and working with wildfire in Australia and North America. It has revealed the cultural norms and historical behavioral patterns that underpin vulnerability and resilience among firefighters, wildfire survivors, residents at-risk, and Aboriginal land stewards. To learn about the research findings, see the publications section, as well as the videos, web-links and case studies.
When disaster strikes: under-insurance in an age of volatility
There is a growing concern in Australia and internationally of the extensive social and economic costs of disasters, and with it an acknowledgement of our inadequate understanding of the role of insurance in disaster mitigation, preparation and recovery. A 2017 report by Deloitte Access Economics outlined how in the ten years leading up to 2016, the total cost of ‘natural’ disasters in Australia averaged $18.2 billion per annum. When disasters strike, home and contents insurance provides a safety net but many households are under-insured or not insured at all. The average uninsured loss for each ‘natural’ disaster in Australia between 2004 and 2011 was estimated by Lloyds at almost $1 billion. Little is known about the factors that contribute to these rates of inadequate insurance cover. This project attempts to bridge this knowledge gap by examining perceptions of risk and insurance amongst residents both with and without direct personal experience of bushfires. It strives to assist the development of insurance policies and implementation strategies that meet the needs of residents. An ARC Discovery Project (DP170100096) with Dr Booth (UTAS), Prof Tranter (UTAS), Ass/Prof French (Uni. of Nottingham) funds this project.
Year | Title |
---|---|
2017 - 2020 | Awarded by: Funding Scheme: Discovery Projects |
2015 - 2018 | Awarded by: Funding Scheme: Discovery Early Career Researcher Award (DECRA) |
Awarded by: Funding Scheme: Community Resilience Innovation Program (CRIP) |
Degree | Research Title | Advisee | |
---|---|---|---|
Doctor of Philosophy | The Long Winter: A comparative study of leadership, diversity and inclusion in the guiding and avalanche profession in Canada and New Zealand | Reimer, Rachel |
School of Geography and Sustainable Communities
Faculty of Social Sciences
University of Wollongong
NSW
2522
Australia