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 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.
2025 Winners
Angela Frederick, University of Texas at El Paso
Angela Frederick is Associate Professor of Sociology at The University of Texas at El Paso, whose expertise spans the areas of medical sociology, the sociology of disability, and environmental sociology. Her scholarship has garnered awards from multiple sections of the American Sociological Association.
Her forthcoming book, Disabled Power, to be published by NYU Press, features findings from dozens of interviews with people with disabilities and parental caregivers who endured the bulk power failure during Winter Storm Uri, which hit Frederick’s home state of Texas in February 2021. Frederick conducted these interviews with the support of a Quick Response Research Award from the Natural Hazards Center. She argues that the vulnerability of people with disabilities during the storm was not an inevitable consequence of individual disabled bodies. Rather, disability vulnerability was “produced” through a policy process that “disabled” vital infrastructure like power, water, and emergency response systems.
Frederick also emphasizes another meaning of the term “disabled power,” that is, the individual and collective resilience of Texans with disabilities. Contrary to dominant tropes that portray disabled people as passive victims or as objects of rescue in disaster contexts, Frederick demonstrates that Texans with a wide range of disabilities employed remarkably creative strategies to survive the storm.
Frederick earned her PhD in sociology from The University of Texas at Austin in 2012. In her scholarly work, she aims to highlight the vital stories, knowledge, and skills that disabled people can share in a time of increasingly frequent and severe disasters.
Kate Thorstad, Disability Law United
Katherine (Kate) M. Thorstad is a staff attorney at Disability Law United, where she leads the disaster and environmental justice practice. Thorstad is advancing legal strategies that will mandate more accessible and effective disaster planning, preparedness, and response. She also serves as vice director of the American Bar Association’s Disaster Legal Services program and is a policy team member on their Standing Committee on Disaster Response and Preparedness.
Thorstad came to Disability Law United after working as an Equal Justice Works Disaster Resilience Fellow at Disability Rights Louisiana, where she directly represented disabled survivors on disaster-related legal issues. Thorstad is admitted to practice law in the state of Louisiana. She earned her bachelor’s degree in government from Dartmouth College and her Juris Doctor from New York University School of Law.
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.
Eligibility and Application
Applicants must reside in the United States and be affiliated with a U.S. organization or academic institution. Previous in-person attendees of the Natural Hazards Workshop are not eligible. 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 2025 is Now Closed. Please check back again to apply in 2026.
The Natural Hazards Center is supportive of educational opportunities for people without documentation and welcome them to apply for this award.
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.