University of Colorado DenverCollege of Liberal Arts and SciencesUniversity of Colorado Denver

Deborah Thomas

Associate Professor
Ph.D., University of South Carolina, 1999

Office: NC 5030-A
Phone: 303.556.5292
E-mail: deborah.thomas@ucdenver.edu

Areas of Interest:

Environmental Hazards and Disasters, Health Geography, Geographic Information Systems, Environmental Health, Environmental Policy, Environmental Planning

Teaching

  • Natural Hazards
  • Introduction to Environment and Society
  • Contemporary Environmental Issues
  • Hazards Mitigation and Vulnerability Assessment
  • GIS Applications in the Health Sciences
  • Co-director of the UCD Tanzania Field School

Research

Engaging in action-oriented, applied research locally and internationally is my passion and collaborations define my approach to research and problem-solving, working with students and colleagues across many disciplines and with people in various local/state government agencies, NGOs/non-profits, and the private sector. I just returned from my sabbatical at the Altitude Research Center at Anschutz Medical Center, where I have a secondary appointment, working on population-based studies examining the health effects of living at moderate to high altitude. Past and present partnerships include Kaiser-Permanente, the Denver Police Department, Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment, Denver Health, Tri-County Health, Denver Public Schools, the National Drought Mitigation Center, the National Center for Atmospheric Research, The Natural Hazards Center, FEMA, and Bugando University College of the Health Sciences (BUCHS) and Endulen Hospital in Tanzania. In 2005, I had the opportunity to expand these collaborative networks internationally when I was on a Fulbright Scholarship to Middle East Technical University in the Department of Geological Engineering in Ankara, Turkey. In 2007 and 2008, I was a field instructor at the UCD Tanzania field school; this experience has expanded to include a research component involving students examining malaria and the geography of other health priorities in the Ngorongoro Conservation Area.

Current research projects include:

  • Assessing the effects of living at moderate and high altitude on health outcomes
  • Utilizing GIS for the study of physical activity: individual and environmental mechanisms of PA change. Subcontract from Kaiser Permanente from a NIH Grant.
  • The spatial dynamics of risk and vulnerability in a transitional pastoral economy National Science Foundation. with Craig Janes.
  • Program to award dissertation fellowships in hazards, risk, and disasters Subcontract funding from a National Science Foundation Grant through the Natural Hazards Center.
  • Malaria as an environmental health hazard in Tanzania and health mapping possibilities for informing health evidence-based decision-making.

Select Publications

Phillips, Brenda, D. Thomas, A. Fothergill, and Lynn Blinn-Pike (editors), Social Vulnerability to Disasters, CRC Press. Forthcoming, August, 2009.

Sebert, Anne K.Kuhlmann, J. Brett, D. Thomas, S. Sain. “Exploration of Social and Built Environment Factors Associated with Pedestrians/Motor Vehicle Collision in Denver.” American Journal of Public Health. Forthcoming.

Wilhelmi, O.V, M.J. Hayes, and D.S.K. Thomas. 2008. “Managing Drought in Mountain Resort Communities: Colorado’s Experiences” Disaster Prevention and Management. 15(5):672-680.

Thomas, D.S.K., K. Ertugay, and S. Kemec. 2006. “The Role of Geographic Information Systems/Remote Sensing in Disaster Management” in Handbook of Disaster Research. Rodriguez, H., Quarantelli, E.L., and Dynes, R. (Eds.). New York: Springer.

Choudhuri, J.A., L.G. Ogden, D.S.K. Thomas, J. Ruttenber, J.K. Todd, and E.A.F. Simoes. "Effect of Altitude on Hospitalizations for Repiratory Synctyial Virus Infection" Pediatrics, Vol. 117 No. 2 February 2006, pp. 349-356.

Thomas, D.S.K., O.V. Wilhelmi, and M.J. Hayes. 2005. “Disaster Reduction, Drought, and the Mountain Resort Community.” in Mountain Resort Planning and Development in an Era of Globalization. T. Clark and A. Gill (eds.).

Thomas, D. and D. Mileti. “Designing Educational Opportunities for the Hazards Manager of the 21st Century Workshop Report” April, 2004. 33 pp.

Thomas, D.S.K, S.L. Cutter, M.E. Hodgson, M. Gutekunst, and S. Jones. 2003. “Use of Spatial Data and Geographic Technologies in Response to the September 11 Terrorist Attack on the World Trade Center” in Impacts of and Human Response to the September 11, 2001 Disasters: What Research Tells Us. Special Publication #39. Boulder, CO: Natural Hazards Research and Applications Information Center, University of Colorado.

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