How do people in different circumstances deal with risks and hazards in their living environments? How do individuals, households, communities, and countries change the biophysical world, and how do they respond to changes in it? How can we change policies and institutions to make the world we live in safer and healthier for all?
I study and teach about how people live in changing environments. I am an assistant professor in the Department of Global Development at Cornell University, affiliated with the Ph.D.-granting graduate fields of Development Studies and Natural Resources as well as the graduate minor in Demography.
In New York state, I study how people in flood-affected communities confront risk. How do people perceive flood risk when it is not always visible, and how do they respond to it amid other issues they face in their communities? How do people manage fraught choices about buying insurance, protecting homes and neighborhoods, or moving? Working with collaborators in community organizations and local and state governments, our team is examining how responses to flood risk emerge at the intersection of social disparities, collective action, and policy interventions.
In China, I have worked with ecologists, geographers, anthropologists, and agricultural scientists to understand how people and landscapes respond to efforts at rural development, reforestation, and biodiversity conservation.
Some recent publications:
How Homeownership, Race, and Social Connections Influence Flood Preparedness Measures: Evidence from 2 Small U.S. Cities, Environmental Sociology
Flood Risk Perception and Responses among Urban Residents in the Northeastern United States, International Journal of Disaster Risk Reduction
Unpacking Authoritarian Environmental Governance: Gauging Authoritarian Elaboration in China and Beyond, Sociology of Development
For an overview, you can view my curriculum vitae.
On this website, you can learn more about my research and teaching, find a list of current and pending publications, and view some photographs from my research.
John Zinda 