Liesel Ritchie joined Virginia Tech’s “Curious Conversations” to talk about how sociology can help people better understand community dynamics during and after disasters. Ritchie shared the importance of understanding social capital’s role in community resilience, as well as how natural disasters differ from other types of disasters that strike communities. She also emphasizes the need for strong community relationships and the importance of listening to community needs when providing assistance from the outside.
About Ritchie
Ritchie is a professor of sociology in Virginia Tech’s College of Liberal Arts and Human Sciences. Her research focuses on community resilience and the social impacts of disasters, including conducting social impact assessments, with an emphasis on technological hazards and disasters, social capital, and rural renewable resource communities. During her career, she has studied a range of disaster events, including the Exxon Valdez, BP Deepwater Horizon, and Wakashio oil spills; the Tennessee Valley Authority coal ash release; Hurricane Katrina; and earthquakes in Haiti and New Zealand.
