Institute of Hazard, Risk and Resilience (IHRR) Seminar Series: Dr Danielle Johnson

Monday 9th February 2026

Open to everyone both in person TLC106 and online register here

Social vulnerability to climate change and hazards – complicating the narrative

Abstract: The concept of social vulnerability is integral to understanding and addressing the uneven and unequal distribution of risk across society. Yet, in both academic and practitioner circles, social vulnerability is often couched in simplistic terms that fail to align with communities’ lived realities and assume that vulnerability is fixed in time and space. These oversights can result in risks (or harms) of their own, emerging through related management or policy decisions. In this seminar, I will reflect on my attempts to nuance discussions about social vulnerability to climate change and hazards. Using examples from my doctoral research with Indigenous women in New Zealand, subsequent role with the interdisciplinary environmental research institute, NIWA, and current work on extreme weather and electrical grid resilience in Northeast England at Durham, I will share insights about how I approach social vulnerability with lived experience and dynamism in mind and the possible applications and benefits of this approach.

Biography: Danielle is a social scientist with training in Human Geography and Anthropology. She obtained her PhD from the School of Environment, University of Auckland (New Zealand) and subsequently worked as a Social Scientist for New Zealand’s National Institute for Water and Atmospheric Research (NIWA). Danielle is currently a postdoctoral researcher affiliated to Durham’s IHRR, Anthropology department, and the Durham Energy Institute. Danielle’s research explores the lived experience of climate change and hazard vulnerability, justice-focussed climate adaptation, and the linkages between climate change, hazards, health, wellbeing and identity. Danielle uses qualitative, reflexive, and community-based methods and has a long-standing interest in applied and impactful research, including in interdisciplinary and policy-facing settings.

Readings:

Johnson, D. E., Fisher, K., & Parsons, M. (2022). Diversifying Indigenous Vulnerability and Adaptation: An Intersectional Reading of Māori Women’s Experiences of Health, Wellbeing, and Climate Change. Sustainability, 14(9), 5452. https://doi.org/10.3390/su14095452

Danielle Johnson, Meg Parsons, Karen Fisher. (2023). Adaptation at whose expense? Explicating the maladaptive potential of water storage and climate-resilient growth for Māori women in northern Aotearoa. Global Environmental Change, Volume 82, 102733.

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gloenvcha.2023.102733.

Johnson, D., Blackett, P., Allison, A. E. F., & Broadbent, A. M. (2023). Measuring Social Vulnerability to Climate Change at the Coast: Embracing Complexity and Context for More Accurate and Equitable Analysis. Water, 15(19), 3408. https://doi.org/10.3390/w15193408