Lauren Dent is currently a doctoral candidate in the Department of Sociology at the University of North Texas and a research assistant in emergency management & disaster science. Her research and teaching interests focus on community resilience and development in Native American communities and vulnerable communities in the Global South. Her work in this area supports the collaborative processes that bring indigenous knowledge, practitioner experience, and interdisciplinary scholarly research together to build community resilience to environmental threats. Specifically, Dent's dissertation examines the role of Tribal emergency managers as ‘cultural brokers’ who work to bridge the gap between professionalized emergency management and the Tribal cultures with which it sometimes conflicts.
Dent is honored to be a member of the organizing committee for this year’s Researchers Meeting, and looks forward to future opportunities to contribute to the community of practitioners and scholars that has been cultivated and nurtured by the Natural Hazards Center.
A native of Lubbock, Texas, Dent completed both her bachelor’s and master’s degrees at Texas Tech University (TTU), and subsequently worked as the full-time academic advisor for the department of political science at TTU. Dent is currently located in downtown Dallas, dissertating and navigating the academic job market. Learn more about me at www.laurendent.com or find me on twitter at @ProfLaurenDent.