Tilly Hall: “Care(ing) in the Disaster Risk Management Assemblage: An Empirical Study of Wildfire Disaster Risk Management in Sonoma County, California”

In Students by General Account

My PhD project aims to provide greater understanding of how forms of, and encounters with, care circulate or perhaps sustain wildfire risk management. To do so, I have undertaken extensive fieldwork in Sonoma County, USA where I engaged with government agencies, NGOs, and local communities. I utilised the qualitative methods of document analysis, participant observation, go-alongs and storytelling interviews. My PhD interrogates the ‘how to care’ as being different within varying components of wildfire risk management. I anticipate it will also demonstrate the contribution of caring and careful approaches within disaster science, policy and practice.

My undergraduate degree was MA Geography at the University of St Andrews. Here, I completed a research dissertation surrounding the extreme weather experience of people rough sleeping in Cardiff. My master’s degree was MSc Risk, Disaster and Resilience at University College London where I focused on the gendered implications of the COVID-19 response, menstruation in humanitarian settings and the experiences of the COVID-19 response on people imprisoned in the English and Welsh Prison Estate. Alongside my studies, I am board member for a youth housing project in Wales, a qualified youth worker and a keen marathon runner.