ABOUT OUR TEAM
- Research Scientist, M.A., Ph.D.
EMAIL: jsantos@udel.edu
PHONE: 302-831-Remote
BIO INFO: Associated Projects |
BIOGRAPHY
Jenniffer Santos Hernández is a sociologist and research scientist at the Disaster Research Center, University of Delaware. She earned her bachelor’s degree in sociology, magna cum laude, from the University of Puerto Rico – Mayagüez in 2004, followed by a master’s degree (2007) and a Ph.D. (2013) in sociology from the University of Delaware. During her graduate studies, Dr. Santos Hernández served as a lead graduate research assistant for the Disaster Research Center and as a research associate for Geographic Information Science and Technology Group (GIST) and the Climate Change Science Institute (CCSI) of the U.S. Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory.
In 2013, following the completion of her doctoral studies, Dr. Santos Hernández accepted a position as a research professor in the sociology of disasters at Centro de Investigaciones Sociales (CIS), the oldest and leading social science research institution in Puerto Rico, housed within the College of Social Sciences at the University of Puerto Rico – Río Piedras. She held this position until 2022. In addition to her research, she taught graduate courses and collaborated with the Salvador Padilla Escabi Graduate School of Planning, where she developed the curriculum for a graduate certificate program in Planning for Disaster Risk Reduction—the first of its kind in the Caribbean region. Dr. Santos Hernández served as the founding chair of the graduate certificate program at UPR-Río Piedras for two years, before transferring her research to the Disaster Research Center in 2024. This program has since been accredited by the American Planning Accreditation Board.
Dr. Santos Hernández is the co-Principal Investigator of the NSF-funded Coastlines and People – Rising Voices, Changing Coasts: The National Earth and Indigenous Science Large Scale Convergence Hub. This five-year project, led by Haskell Indian Nations University, received $20 million in funding and represents the largest NSF research award in the history of tribal colleges and universities. Additionally, she is the co-Principal Investigator for the NSF Confronting Hazards, Impacts, and Risks for a Resilient Planet (CHIRRP) Planning Grant, titled Understanding Risk Propagation of Landslide-Community Systems for Community-Centric Risk Assessment and Mitigation.
Since 2001, Dr. Santos Hernández has been engaged in interdisciplinary research the social aspects of disasters and climate change, focusing on development, social vulnerability to disasters, risk communication, and community engagement for disaster risk reduction. Her research findings have been presented at national and international professional conferences and disseminated in scholarly publications. She has also served in various government-led national and regional coordination and research initiatives, including the USGS Earthquake Social Science Working Group, the Puerto Rico Silver Jackets, the EPA/FEMA College/Community Underserved Partnership Program, and the Puerto Rico Children and Youth Task Force, among others.
RESEARCH INTERESTS
development and social vulnerability to disasters, risk communication, community engagement, sense-making, disaster recovery