Dr. Christine Eriksen

Talks

Talks available on YouTube

Did you miss the awesome closing plenary session at the AFE Fire Congress 2023? Fret not! The Association for Fire Ecology has made the recording available online. I talk from 9-39 mins, followed by Chief Royal Ramey from the Forestry and Fire Recruitment Program, and Ryan Reed and Kyle Trefny from the FireGeneration Collaborative. Please tune in! This was a highlight of my career.
On 5 October 2023, I participated in an engaging webinar organised by the Pau Costa Foundation in collaboration with AFE and IAWF. Elsa Pastor and I shared diverse examples from our research that demonstrate the ways at-risk residents, wildfire managers, and wildfire researchers benefit from equitable measures and gender awareness.
On 2 October 2023, I had the pleasure of sharing seven key lessons on entry points and partnerships that can enable effective and actionable fire research with Wonder Labs‘ Living with Fire Design Challenge teams.
On 15 March 2022, I gave a public seminar as part of the Lookout: Envisioning Futures with Wildfire lecture series at Oregon State University, USA. Focusing on art and interviews with wildfire survivors, it examines relationships between fire, plants, and people to illuminate how anthropogenic impacts are felt across all spectrums of these relationships, from the geological and arboreal to the atmospheric [48 minutes].
On 27 January 2022, I participated in a webinar organised by the UCL Warnings Research Center on the topic of Warnings for Wildfire: Trailblazing a Safer Future. My 15-minute talk on wildfire warnings for a fiery future, in an emergency, and about the long-term social impacts, starts at the 22-minute-mark. The webinar ends with an interesting discussion.
In September 2021, I gave a 17-minute presentation, titled Tracing Unnatural Disasters: An Environmental History of Wildfires and Radioactive Contamination, as part of the Royal Geographical Society with Institute of British Geographers Annual International Conference in London, UK.
In March 2021, I gave a public seminar, titled Tracing Unnatural Disasters: Sensing Wildfires, Atmospheres and Radiation in the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone, as part of the California Fire Science Seminar Series co-organised by UC Berkeley and UC Merced in California, USA [57 minutes].
In February 2019, I gave an invited public seminar, titled The Rise of the Phoenix: Gender Equity in Wildland Fire to the Tasmania Fire Centre at the University of Tasmania in Hobart, Australia [31 minutes].

Conference presentations and panels (since 2012)

06/2025 Adapting Swiss Civil Protection to Climate Change (presentation) in Learning Lab on Swiss Innovation in Drought and Wildfire Management (discussant) at the UN Global Platform for Disaster Risk Reduction 2025, Geneva, Switzerland

03/2025 Switzerland’s Fiery Future: Scenarios, responses, and perceptions (presentation); Environmental Uncertainty & Climate Change: Scenarios, responses, and perceptions of the future (panel moderator and participant), University of Zürich Symposium Series: ‘Uncertainty: Navigating the Unpredictable in Society, Cognition, and Existence’, organised by the Ringvorlesung Institut für Volkswirtschaftlehre and the Asien-Orient-Institut, Universität Zürich

11/2024 Building Wildfire Resilient Communities in Europe: Insights from the UK, UK Wildfire Conference 2024, Aberdeen, Scotland, UK

08/2024 Unfolding Catastrophes: Grappling with fragmented and quotidian spatiotemporalities, Royal Geographical Society with Institute of British Geographers Annual International Conference, London, UK

05/2024 Community resilience to wildfires in Switzerland (invited talk), Waldbrand Tagung zum integralen Risikomanagement, Bundesamt für Umwelt (BAFU) / Federal Office for the Environment (FOEN), Bern, Switzerland

12/2023 Closing Plenary Keynote When the Familiar Becomes the Unknown: Coping, caring and coexisting in a fiery world, 10th International Fire Ecology & Management Congress, Monterey, California, USA

03/2023 Seminar The Rhythms of Ruin and Regrowth: Coexisting with fire, presented to the Care and Preparedness in the Network Society Research Group (CareNet), Internet Interdisciplinary Institute (IN3), Universitat Oberta de Catalunya, Barcelona in connection with the PyroLife Conference

11/2022 Keynote Into the Firing Line: Civilian ingress during catastrophic wildfires in Australia, UK Wildfire Conference 2022, Belfast, Northern Ireland

11/2022 Panelist Closing reflection on the future of disaster research, Northern European Emergency and Disaster Studies (NEEDS 2022), Copenhagen, Denmark

10/2022 Nuclear Wildfires: Sensing air, atmospheres and radiation in the Chornobyl Exclusion Zone (paper), Fire Ecology Across Boundaries Conference, Florence, Italy

09/2022 Questioning the Value of Insurance for Wildfire Recovery: Between absence and presence (paper), Royal Geographical Society with Institute of British Geographers Annual International Conference, Newcastle, UK

08/2022 Between Fires: Rethinking our relationship with fire (panel), Royal Geographical Society with Institute of British Geographers Annual International Conference, Newcastle, UK

03/2022 Coping with climate change and wildfires through gender equity, NGOCSW Parallel Event in conjunction with the 66th Session of the UN Commission on the Status of Women, Panel: Feminist Approaches to Justice: Women, Disasters and Climate Change: The Research Speaks

01/2022 Wildfire Warnings: For a fiery future, in an emergency, about the long-term social impacts, University College London Warnings Research Center Webinar – Warnings for Wildfire: Trailblazing a safer future

11/2021 Evidence-based decision-making, civil protection, and climate change in Switzerland, 5th Annual Seminar of the European Commission’s Disaster Risk Management Knowledge Centre, Brussels, Belgium [my talk starts at 11:33]

09/2021 Tracing Unnatural Disasters: An Environmental History of Wildfires and Radioactive Contamination, Royal Geographical Society with Institute of British Geographers Annual International Conference, London, UK

03/2021 Tracing Unnatural Disasters: Sensing Wildfires, Atmospheres and Radiation in the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone, public seminar to the California Fire Science Seminar Series, UC Berkeley / UC Merced, California, USA

12/2019 Tracing Unnatural Disasters: A Case Study of Fire, public seminar at the Copenhagen Centre for Disaster Research (COPE), University of Copenhagen, Denmark

11/2019 Wildfires, Insurance and Recovery in the Blue Mountains, Australia, The England & Wales Wildfire Forum 2019 Wildfire Conference, Cardiff, Wales, UK

10/2019 The Rise of the Phoenix: Gender Equity in the Wildfire Profession, public seminar at the Humanitarian and Conflict Research Institute, University of Manchester, UK

08/2019 Wildfires, Insurance and Recovery in the Blue Mountains, Australia, Royal Geographical Society with IBG Annual International Conference, London, UK

07/2019 Rethinking the Interplay between Vulnerability and Affluence for Disaster Resilience, Colloquium at the Centre for Security Studies, ETH Zürich, Switzerland

02/2019 The Rise of the Phoenix: Gender Equity in Wildland Fire, guest seminar at the Tasmania Fire Centre, University of Tasmania, Hobart, Australia

12/2018 Opening Plenary Keynote The Rise of the Phoenix: Gender Equity in Wildland Fire, 15th Int. Wildland Fire Safety Summit & 5th Human Dimensions of Wildland Fire Conference, Asheville, NC, USA

12/2018 Plenary Panel Rethinking Fire: Indigenous Fire Knowledge and Cultural Burning, 15th Int. Wildland Fire Safety Summit & 5th Human Dimensions of Wildland Fire Conference, Asheville, NC, USA

09/2018 Between Three Fires: Wildfire, Gender and Social Change, guest seminar, Kulturgeografiska Institutionen, Stockholm University, Sweden

07/2018 Bushfires, Insurance and Recovery in the Blue Mountains, NSW, Institute of Australian Geographers/New Zealand Geographical Society Joint-Conference, Auckland, Aotearoa New Zealand

04/2018 Coping, Caring and Believing: The Embodied Work of Disaster Recovery Workers, Association of American Geographers Conference, New Orleans, LA, USA

12/2017 Marginalisation and Unequal Risk in Disasters: Transforming Vulnerable Communities (paper + panel), Global Challenges Transforming Vulnerability Conference, University of Wollongong, Australia

08/2017 Embodied Uncertainty: Living with Complexity and Natural Hazards, Royal Geographical Society with IBG Annual International Conference, London, UK

07/2017 Research Ethics, Trauma and Self-care: Reflections from Disaster Geography, Institute of Australian Geographers Conference, Brisbane, QLD, Australia

04/2017 Using Humour to Navigate the Gendered Terrain of Wildland Firefighting (paper), Research Ethics, Trauma and Self-care: Reflections from Disaster Geography (paper), Reflections on Ethics in Human Geography (panel), Association of American Geographers Conference, Boston, MA, USA

12/2016 Disaster Researcher Trauma, Training and Self-care, recorded public seminar on Painful Memories: Interviewing Survivors of Trauma organised by Oral History NSW, Sydney, NSW, Australia

10/2016 Climate Change Q&A Panel, public event for www.globalclimatechangeweek.com, Wollongong, NSW, Australia

05/2016 Into the Firing Line: Civilian Ingress during the 2013 Red October Fires, Australian Community Engagement and Fire Awareness Conference, Albury, NSW, Australia

04/2016 Men, Masculinities and Wildfire: Embodied Resilience and Rupture, Association of American Geographers Conference, San Francisco, CA, USA, Australia

04/2016 Discussant: Researcher Trauma and Self-Care, Association of American Geographers Conference, San Francisco, CA, USA

11/2015 Opening Plenary Panel An Exploration of Gender Equality and Sexual Harassment Issues in the Wildland Fire Profession, 6th International Fire Ecology & Management Congress, San Antonio, TX, USA

07/2015 Wildfire Hazards panellist, Annual Natural Hazards Workshop, Broomfield, CO, USA

07/2015 Affluence, Privilege and Vulnerability: Exploring the Connections in the Aftermath of the 1991 Oakland Hills Firestorm, Institute of Australian Geographers Conference, 2015, Canberra, ACT, Australia

04/2015 Affluence, Privilege and Vulnerability: Exploring the Connections (panel), Grieving Witnesses: The Politics of Grief in the Field (panel), Association of American Geographers Conference, Chicago, IL, USA

03/2015 Between Three Fires: Bushfire, Gender and Social Change, Thinking Space Seminar, School of Geosciences, University of Sydney, NSW, Australia

10/2014 Mental Health, Vicarious Trauma, and Self Care for Disaster Researchers, Red Cross Disaster Self Care Forum, University of Melbourne, VIC, Australia

08/2014 Gender and Wildfire: Toeing the Line or Breaking the Glass Ceiling, Women and Fire Fighting Australasia 5th Biennial Conference, Canberra, ACT, Australia

07/2014 Plenary Keynote: Gender and Wildfire: Landscapes of Uncertainty, Emergency Management Conference, Melbourne, VIC, Australia

05/2014 Making Sure Collective Thought Occurs Around Planning, Australian Community Engagement and Fire Awareness Conference 2014, Wollongong, NSW, Australia

04/2014 Author-Meets-Critics: Gender and Wildfire: Landscapes of Uncertainty, Association of American Geographers Conference, Tampa, FL, USA

03/2014 Gender and Wildfire: Landscapes of Uncertainty at the Wildland-Urban Interface of Southeast Australia and the US West Coast, American Society for Environmental History Conference, San Francisco, CA, USA

08/2013 Retention, Revival and Subjugation of Indigenous Fire Knowledge through Agency Firefighting, International Geographical Union 2013 Regional Conference in Kyoto, Japan

7/2013 Plenary Keynote: Gender and Wildfire: Landscapes of Uncertainty, Institute of Australian Geographers Conference, University of Western Australia, Perth, WA, Australia

04/2013 Gender and Wildfire at the Wildland-Urban Interface, Association of American Geographers Conference, Los Angeles, CA, USA

03/2013 Gender and Wildfire at the Wildland-Urban Interface, Public Seminar, California State University, Chico, USA

10/2012 Women, Social Networks and Bushfire Risk Resilience, RMIT University Symposium Communities and Resilience: A focus on social networks for disaster preparedness, Melbourne, VIC, Australia

08/2012 Gender and Wildfire at the Wildland-Urban Interface: A Comparative Study of New South Wales and California, Australasian Fire & Emergency Services Authorities Council Conference, Perth, WA, Australia

07/2012 The Enigma of Bushfire Preparedness, Institute of Australian Geographers Conference, Macquarie University, Sydney, NSW, Australia

03/2012 Invited panelist at Identifying the Hidden Disaster: the first Australian conference on natural disasters and family violence, Melbourne, VIC, Australia

04/2012 Living with Wildfire at the Wildland-Urban Interface: A Comparative Study of California and New South Wales, 3rd International Associate of Wildland Fires Human Dimensions of Wildland Fire Conference, Seattle, WA, USA

Organised sessions and symposia (since 2012)

08/2019 Royal Geographical Society with Institute of British Geographers Annual International Conference: When Disaster Strikes: Insurance, Coping Capacity and Climate Change, London, UK.

08/2018 International expert workshop on Disasters and Social Vulnerability in Affluent Societies, funded by the Swiss National Science Foundation and hosted with collaborators at ETH Zürich, Switzerland.

07/2018 Institute of Australian Geographers/New Zealand Geographical Society 2018 Joint-Conference: When Disaster Strikes: Insurance in Theory and Praxis, Auckland, Aotearoa New Zealand.

04/2018 Association of American Geographers 2018 Conference: Faith, Conflict and Care in Crisis and Disaster Recovery, New Orleans, LA, USA.

08/2017 Royal Geographical Society with Institute of British Geographers Annual International Conference: Research Trauma: Dealing with traumatic research content and places, London, UK.

04/2016 Association of American Geographers 2016 Conference, Researcher Trauma and Self-Care, San Francisco, CA, USA.

07/2015 Institute of Australian Geographers 2015 Conference, Hazards, Risks and Disasters, Canberra, ACT.

04/2015 Association of American Geographers 2015 Conference: Affluence, Privilege and Vulnerability: Exploring the Connections, Chicago, IL, USA.

07/2014 Institute of Australian Geographers 2014 Conference: Geographies of Hazards, Risks, Disasters, Melbourne, VIC, Australia.

04/2014 Association of American Geographers 2014 Conference: Author-meets-critics: Gender and Wildfire: Landscapes of Uncertainty, Tampa, FL, USA.

07/2013 Institute of Australian Geographers 2013 Conference: Panel session: Co-Existing with Fire: Insights from Australia, Perth, WA, Australia.

04/2013 Association of American Geographers 2013 Conference: The Gendered Dimensions of Disasters, Los Angeles, CA, USA.

07/2012 Institute of Australian Geographers 2012 Conference: Connecting Disaster Research and Practice for Risk Reduction, Sydney, NSW, Australia.

03/2012 Australian Centre for Cultural Environmental Research, UOW Seminar Series and Special Workshop with disaster sociologist and gender expert Dr Elaine Enarson (USA).