Welcome! I'm Ria.

My research bega with floodplain management in the bayous of south Louisiana, then examined how marginalized groups—from Indigenous communities in New Mexico to protest movements in Latin America—perceive and contest disaster risk. Currently, my work in the U.S. Pacific Northwest focuses on how wildfire and postfire flooding affect rural drinking water utilities.

Currently, my research examines wildfire not as an isolated disturbance, but as a cascading risk that interacts with forest management, watershed processes, and institutional decision-making across jurisdictions. Working at the interface of hazards geography, forest and wildfire policy, and community-based research, I use participatory, qualitative, and spatial approaches to co-produce policy-relevant knowledge with land managers, Tribal nations, and local communities. Across my work, forests are the systems in which hazards unfold, and governance is the mechanism through which risk, equity, and resilience are negotiated. 

Across these projects, my passion remains clear: understanding and partnering with communities to strengthen resilience and foster inclusive engagement in environmental decision-making.