This lecture is part of the 11-week "Lookout: Envisioning Futures with Wildfire" lecture series exploring how we are shaping this era of megafires and how it is shaping us. The series features speakers from across the arts, humanities, and environmental sciences. It is hosted by the Spring Creek Project and the Environmental Arts and Humanities Initiative at Oregon State University and co-sponsored by OSU's Center for the Humanities, OSU's Sustainability Office, OSU's Arts and Education Complex, and Terrain.org.

Christine Eriksen is a senior researcher with the Risk and Resilience Team at the Center for Security Studies (CSS) at the Swiss Federal Institute for Technology (aka ETH Zurich). With a particular interest in social dimensions of disasters, her widely published and award-winning research has focused on case studies in multiple countries and continents, including Australia, North America, Europe, and Africa. Christine gained international research recognition by bringing human geography, social justice, and environmental hazards into dialogue. She is the author of two books and over 75 articles and book chapters, which examine social vulnerability and risk adaptation in the context of environmental history, cultural norms, and political agendas. Prior to joining the CSS in August 2020, Christine worked for 13 years as a social scientist at the University of Wollongong, Australia. She holds a PhD in Human Geography from the University of Wollongong, Australia, and is co-author of the book Alliances in the Anthropocene: Fire, Plants, and People.

Additional co-sponsors: Corvallis-Benton County Public Library and Grass Roots Books & Music