Cotina Lane Pixley is a Ph.D. student in the Disaster Science and Management Program at the University of Delaware. She holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Administration of Justice from the University of the District of Columbia and a Master of Science degree in Homeland Security, also from the University of the District of Columbia, where her focus was Emergency Management. Cotina values community engagement and social action. She has a background in research, training and evaluation, service and outreach to government agencies, community-based organizations, faith-based organizations, and other non-profit entities. Cotina has worked on and supported research in the areas of risk communication and community resilience, ranging from the development and utilization of effective risk communications and the examination of such communications; to the examination of K-12 school-based mass shootings in the United States. Cotina currently serves as a Co-Principal Investigator and Project Director for the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, Minority Serving Institutions, Scientific Leadership Award Grant to the University of the District of Columbia, and as a Clinical Instructor in the Crime, Justice, and Security Studies Program. At the University of Delaware, she hopes to further understand underserved populations and the impacts of severe weather on their recovery from disasters.