Dr. Elyse Zavar is an assistant professor in the Department of Emergency Management and Disaster Science. Prior to joining the faculty at UNT, she was an assistant professor in the Department of the Environment, Geography & Marine Science at Southern Connecticut State University. An internship with a local government’s emergency management office sparked her career in hazard geography, which has also included work as a flood insurance map analyst.

Earning her Ph.D. from Texas State University’s Department of Geography, Dr. Zavar’s scholarship explores hazard mitigation and themes of land use/landscape change following disaster. Of particular interest are non-structural hazard mitigation projects, such as flood buyouts or property acquisition. Her research is published in a variety of peer-reviewed journals including Natural Hazards Review, Land Use Policy, Environmental Hazards, and Disaster Prevention and Management.

Ph.D. Environmental Geography
Department of Geography, Texas State University

M.A. Geography
Department of Geography, University of California, Los Angeles

B.A. Geology
Department of Geology, College of Wooster