Ben Wisner, research associate in the Environmental Studies Program, is vice-chair of the Earthquakes and Megacities Initiative, vice-chair of the International Geographical Union's Commission on Hazards and Risks, and a research coordinator for the United Nations University's project on urban disasters. Author of At Risk: Natural Hazards, People's Vulnerability, and Disasters (London: Routledge, 1994) and other books and scientific papers, he is an advisor to the emergency-response program of the American Friends Service Committee.