Kristopher Young

Kristopher Young is a doctoral candidate in the Sociology Department at University of Utah with applied research interests in social dimensions of wildfire in the United States, and sustainable development in post-disaster contexts in the global South, specifically Haiti and Sri Lanka. He received a BS in forestry at Utah State University with an emphasis in disturbance ecology, an MA in sustainable development and disaster management from Prescott College, and an MS in sociology from University of Utah. Before spending ten years working with disaster-affected communities on community-driven agricultural and environmental projects in post-tsunami Sri Lanka, then post-earthquake Haiti, Young conducted wildland fuels surveys with Native American communities on tribal lands throughout the intermountain west and vaccinated historic urban trees throughout New York City, including Central Park, against the Asian Long-horned beetle. Young’s current research utilizes a mixed methods approach to determine social-ecological impacts of wildfires, and equitability in wildfire management, through risk society, social vulnerability, and environmental justice lenses.