Disability and Disasters Award
The Disability and Disasters Award supports people with disabilities working in disasters, as well as those who care for, study, or advocate on behalf of those with disabilities. Award funds will allow the recipient to attend the annual Natural Hazards Workshop and either the Researchers or Practitioners Meetings that follow.
People with disabilities have been identified as among the most vulnerable to disasters; however, research has shown that they also have tremendous capacity. This award will recognize those who advance and support the area of disability and disasters.
Recipients of this award will be recognized at the Workshop and will be asked to present a poster or to serve as panelists, where they can highlight their research and/or practical experiences with disability and disasters.
Eligibility and Application
Applicants must reside in the United States and be affiliated with a U.S. organization or academic institution. People who have not attended the Natural Hazards Workshop in the past will be prioritized. Preference is given to those who can demonstrate financial need. Hazards practitioners, students, and researchers with a strong commitment to the intersection of disability and disaster management and mitigation are encouraged to apply.
The application window for 2026 is Now Closed. Please check back again to apply in 2027.
Previous Winners
To see a list of all previous winners, please visit: Disability and Disasters Award Winners.
Special Thanks
The Disability and Disasters Award fund is possible thanks to the generous gift of an anonymous donor.
Request for Contributions
The Disability and Disasters Award supports people with disabilities working in disasters, as well as those who care for, study, or advocate on behalf of those with disabilities. Award funds will allow the recipient to attend the annual Natural Hazards Workshop and the Researchers or Practitioners Meetings that follow. To make a gift, please visit the CU Foundation site by clicking on the link below.
Questions?
If you have any questions, please contact the Co-Chairs of the Disability and Disasters Award, Candace Evans candace.evans@colorado.edu and Kate McNeely kate.mcneely@colorado.edu.
2026 Winner
Elan Tulberg, University of Texas at Austin
Elan Tulberg is a Doctoral Student in the Sociology Department at the University of Texas at Austin. Her research explores the intersection of disability, race, and gender within the context of crisis and community. Her current project focuses on the survival of disabled Angelenos during the Los Angeles wildfires in January 2025. This work inquires into the different modes of survival implemented by disabled survivors of natural disasters and seeks to innovate sociological understanding of climate crises and survivorship through the application of disability theory.
Her Master’s thesis Are We Still Friends?: Understanding Disabled Women of Color’s Experiences with Friendship & Isolation During Covid interviews 24 disabled and/or immunocompromised women of color about their experiences with their friends across the Covid-19 pandemic. This work is featured as an in-depth interview for SAGE Video’s Disability Collection, available here. Her advocacy for accessible scholarship is showcased through her past media projects, such as her documentary The Skirted White Man: Black Queer Culture’s Erasure in Fashion featured on UCLA’s The Gender Neutrality Project.
Elan’s interest in intersectionally exploring how disabled people build or sustain community in times of crisis is rooted in her personal experience as a disabled queer researcher of color. With a devotion to care, her work speaks to communities with heightened vulnerability during times of crisis that have historically been overlooked and untended.