Francisco Vidal-Franceschi

Francisco (Fran) Vidal-Franceschi is a PhD student in sociology at the University of Delaware. Originally from southern Puerto Rico, Vidal-Franceschi’s research explores the intersections of disasters, displacement, social vulnerability, and gender and sexual diversity, with a particular focus on transgender and LGBTQIA+ communities.

Before beginning graduate studies, Vidal-Franceschi earned bachelor’s degrees in anthropology and sociology from the University of Puerto Rico, Río Piedras. Their previous work has examined linguistic accessibility in disasters, disaster recovery processes, and community-based approaches to hazard mitigation and resilience.

Vidal-Franceschi is a citizen scientist with the Rising Voices, Changing Coasts Puerto Rico Hub and a collaborator with the Puerto Rico Disaster Risk Reduction Collaboratory, where they support community-centered research across the island. Their work is grounded in an ethics of care and reciprocity, emphasizing the importance of long-term relationships with communities that have experienced hurricanes, earthquakes, and other hazards. Through this work, Vidal-Franceschi has contributed to projects involving disaster documentation, visual damage assessments, community outreach, and participatory knowledge production.

Drawing from both lived experience and scholarly inquiry, Vidal-Franceschi is interested in how systems of inequality shape disaster experiences, recovery trajectories, and the production of individual and collective identities in the aftermath of crises. Their current research examines the relationship between disaster-induced displacement, housing insecurity, and transgender lives, while also exploring how disasters influence identity formation and belonging among marginalized communities. Through this work, Vidal-Franceschi aims to advance more equitable and inclusive approaches to disaster policy, emergency management, and community resilience.