Alonso Brenes

Alonso Brenes is a Costa Rican geographer and researcher with the Network of Social Studies on the Prevention of Disasters in Latin America and the Caribbean (LA RED). His work focuses on the social construction of disaster risk, the historical and institutional production of exposure and vulnerability, and forensic approaches for identifying root causes and translating evidence into practical risk reduction actions. 

Since 2017, Brenes has developed more than ten applications of disaster forensics methodologies in Latin America and the Caribbean. These applications have addressed drought, volcanic risk, urban and territorial risk, and glacier retreat and the risk of glacial lake outburst flooding (GLOF) in high-mountain environments. His recent work includes technical assistance on disaster risk management associated with GLOFs in Andean countries, forensic disaster risk analysis on glacial melting in Peru, forensic and recovery analytics for hurricane risk in the Caribbean, and support to national risk reduction planning and risk analytics initiatives. He has worked in more than 30 countries across Latin America and the Caribbean, Africa, and Asia, with governments, multilateral organizations, universities, and civil society institutions.