Comfort is a known expert in decision-making in crisis, disaster preparedness, and the use of technology to inform managers operating under urgent conditions. Graduating with a PhD from Yale University, she engaged in field studies following 23 earthquakes in 15 countries and has authored multiple books.
Consultancies and Public Service
- Consultant to the Municipality of Bogota, Columbia, 2005
- Consultant to the Inter-American Development Bank, 2003
- Provost’s Award for Excellence in Mentoring, University of Pittsburgh, 2008
- Fellow, National Academy of Public Administration, 2006
Awards
Recent Publications
- Global Risk Management: The Role of Collective Cognition in Response to COVID-19. Lead editor with Mary Lee Rhodes. Routledge, 2022.
- Hazard SEES Type 2: From Sensors to Tweeters: A Sustainable Sociotechnical Approach for Detecting, Migrating, and Building Resilience to Hazards, National Science Foundation, #1331463, September 2013-August 2019.
- The Dynamics of Risk: Changing Technologies and Collective Action in Seismic Events. Princeton University Press, 2019.
Research Interests
- Disaster response management
- Organizational theory
- Complex adaptive systems
- Decision making under uncertainty
