Lori Peek

Lori Peek is director of the Natural Hazards Center and professor in the department of sociology at the University of Colorado Boulder. She studies vulnerable populations in disaster and has conducted field investigations in the aftermath of the 9/11 terrorist attacks, Hurricane Katrina, the BP Oil Spill, the Christchurch earthquakes, the Joplin tornado, Superstorm Sandy, and Hurricane Matthew. Peek is author of Behind the Backlash: Muslim Americans after 9/11, co-editor of Displaced: Life in the Katrina Diaspora, and co-author of Children of Katrina. Peek has received numerous awards for her scholarship, teaching, and service to the broader hazards and disaster community. She is past chair of the American Sociological Association Section on Environment and Technology and is currently the president of the Research Committee on Disasters for the International Sociological Association. She is a board member for the William Averette Anderson Fund, which is dedicated to increasing the number of underrepresented professionals in hazards and disaster research and practice.