Fernando Rivera is a professor of sociology and director of the Puerto Rico Research Hub at the University of Central Florida. He has received funding from the National Science Foundation and the U.S. Department of Agriculture for his disaster research. He is the co-editor of two books on disaster vulnerability, hazards, and resilience and several journal articles and book chapters. Dr. Rivera is currently a principal co-investigator on a National Science Foundation-funded interdisciplinary project examining restoration and resilience in coupled human-natural systems.