About

Elizabeth Fussell is a sociologist and demographer whose research focuses on environmental drivers of migration and social inequalities in migration, health, and other post-disaster outcomes. She has contributed to the understanding of how natural disasters and economic turmoil influence migration patterns, particularly from Puerto Rico to the U.S., and has developed longitudinal data sets to better understand these effects. Fussell's work also addresses inequality in post-disaster recovery and examines the impacts of climate change on health, including aging populations. She is a Professor of Population Studies and Environment and Society, and of Epidemiology at Brown University. Fussell has co-authored a chapter in the Fifth National Climate Assessment, sharing insights on the social impacts of climate change. Her research has been recognized through grants such as those from the NIH, enabling her to investigate the long-term effects of events like Hurricane Katrina and to develop practical solutions for healthy aging in the context of climate change. She is actively involved in the Center for Climate, Environment and Health at Brown University, which studies the intersection of climate, environment, and human health.

Research topics

• Ecology
• Social Science
• Economics
• Political Science
• Geography
• Computer Security
• Sociology
• Environmental science
• Environmental resource management
• Development economics
• Engineering
• Environmental health
• Environmental planning
• Natural resource economics
• Biology
• Medicine
• Regional science

Selected publications

• Understanding human health impacts of tropical cyclones across scales

  Elsevier eBooks · 2025-01-01

  book-chapter
  PublisherDOI

• Inclusion of Older Adults in Consumer-Directed Heat Safety Materials: A Content Analysis of U.S. State Websites

  Innovation in Aging · 2025-12-01

  articleOpen access

  Abstract The increasing frequency and duration of extreme heat events places our growing older adult population at heightened risk for adverse, heat-related outcomes. While states provide the public with important heat safety messaging through websites, little is known about the inclusion of targeted information relevant to older adults. We conducted a qualitative content analysis of consumer-directed heat safety information published on state websites to 1) characterize information relevant to older adults and their caregivers and 2) assess information depth and content gaps. Our content analysis revealed five major themes regarding heat-specific risks: 1) acknowledgment of risk in older adults and definitions of older age; 2) chronic conditions or disabilities; 3) use of particular prescription medications or known toxic substances; 4) restricted fluid and salt intake; 5) social isolation. Most websites acknowledged that older adults are at increased risk of heat illness, but only half included a definition for older age. A majority discussed risk in those with chronic conditions—with cardiovascular conditions and obesity included most frequently and cancer and cognitive impairment cited the least. Only half discussed prescription medications, two-thirds discussed toxic substances, and half discussed social isolation as an intersectional concern. Most discussed the importance of consuming fluids and electrolytes, however, few provided recommendations for those with restricted fluid and salt intake. Our results highlight the lack of granular, age-inclusive information in most heat safety material published by state websites. Identified content gaps should inform relevant additions to these materials to promote self-sufficiency in mitigating heat risk among older adults.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• List of contributors

  Elsevier eBooks · 2025-01-01

  book-chapterOpen access
  PublisherDOI

• Rare and highly destructive wildfires drive human migration in the U.S.

  Nature Communications · 2024-08-05 · 25 citations

  articleOpen access

  The scale of wildfire impacts to the built environment is growing and will likely continue under rising average global temperatures. We investigate whether and at what destruction threshold wildfires have influenced human mobility patterns by examining the migration effects of the most destructive wildfires in the contiguous U.S. between 1999 and 2020. We find that only the most extreme wildfires (258+ structures destroyed) influenced migration patterns. In contrast, the majority of wildfires examined were less destructive and did not cause significant changes to out- or in-migration. These findings suggest that, for the past two decades, the influence of wildfire on population mobility was rare and operated primarily through destruction of the built environment.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Population Change in Wildfire-Affected Areas in the United States: Evidence from U.S. Postal Service Residential Address Data

  Population Research and Policy Review · 2024-07-29 · 1 citations

  articleSenior author
  PublisherDOI

• The impact of residential greenness on psychological distress among Hurricane Katrina survivors

  PLoS ONE · 2023-05-11 · 6 citations

  articleOpen accessCorresponding

  Residential greenness may support mental health among disaster-affected populations; however, changes in residential greenness may disrupt survivors' sense of place. We obtained one pre- and three post-disaster psychological distress scores (Kessler [K]-6) from a cohort (n = 229) of low-income mothers who survived Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans, Louisiana, USA. Greenness was assessed using average growing season Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) and Enhanced Vegetation Index (EVI) in the 300 m around participants' homes at each time point. We used multivariable logistic regressions to evaluate two hypotheses: 1) that cross-sectional greenness (above vs. below median) was associated with reduced psychological distress (K6≥5); and 2) that changes in residential greenness were associated with adverse mental health. When using EVI, we found that a change in level of greenness (i.e., from high to low [high-low], or from low to high [low-high] greenness, comparing pre- and post-Katrina neighborhoods) was associated with increased odds of distress at the first post-storm survey, compared to moving between or staying within low greenness neighborhoods (low-high odds ratio [OR] = 3.48; 95% confidence interval [CI] = 1.40, 8.62 and high-low OR = 2.60; 95% CI: 1.05, 6.42). Results for NDVI were not statistically significant. More research is needed to characterize how residential greenness may impact the health of disaster survivors, and how these associations may change over time.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Chapter 20 : Social Systems and Justice. Fifth National Climate Assessment

  2023-01-01 · 9 citations

  report
  PublisherDOI

• Migration as a Vector of Economic Losses From Disaster-Affected Areas in the United States

  Demography · 2023-01-24 · 4 citations

  articleOpen access

  We introduce the consideration of human migration into research on economic losses from extreme weather disasters. Taking a comparative case study approach and using data from the Federal Reserve Bank of New York/Equifax Consumer Credit Panel, we document the size of economic losses attributable to migration from 23 disaster-affected areas in the United States before, during, and after some of the most costly hurricanes, tornadoes, and wildfires on record. We then employ demographic standardization and decomposition to determine if these losses primarily reflect changes in out-migration or the economic resources that migrants take with them. Finally, we consider the implications of these losses for changing spatial inequality in the United States. While disaster-affected areas and their populations differ in their experiences of and responses to extreme weather disasters, we generally find that, relative to the year before an extreme weather disaster, economic losses via migration from disaster-affected areas increase the year of and after the disaster, these changes primarily reflect changes in out-migration (vs. the economic resources that migrants take with them), and these losses briefly disrupt the status quo by temporarily reducing spatial inequality.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Environmental migration as short‐ or long‐term differences from a trend: A case study of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita effects on out‐migration in the Gulf of Mexico

  International Migration · 2022-12-08 · 10 citations

  articleOpen access1st authorCorresponding

  An environmental event that damages housing and the built environment may result in either a short- or long-term out-migration response, depending on residents' recovery decisions and hazard tolerance. If residents move only in the immediate disaster aftermath, then out-migration will be elevated only in the short-term. However, if disasters increase residents' concerns about future risk, heighten vulnerability, or harm the local economy, then out-migration may be elevated for years after an event. The substantive aim of this research brief is to evaluate hypotheses about short- and long-term out-migration responses to the highly destructive 2005 hurricane season in the Gulf of Mexico. The methodological aim is to demonstrate a difference-in-differences (DID) approach analyzing time series data from Gulf Coast counties to compare short- and long-differences in out-migration probabilities in the treatment and control counties. We find a large short-term out-migration response and a smaller sustained increase for the disaster-affected coastal counties.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Demography’s Lessons for Addressing the Climate Emergency in the World of 8 Billion

  2022-01-01

  reportOpen access1st authorCorresponding
  PublisherOA PDFDOI

Recent grants

• NIH Grant F32HD008551

  NIH · $69k

• Analysis of Impacts of Environmental and Natural Hazards on Human Migration

  NSF · $661k · 2021–2026

• Core C - Data Management and Dissemination Core

  NIH · $11.2M · 2022

Frequent coauthors

• Douglas S. Massey

  Princeton University

  50 shared

• Victoria Defrancesco

  University of South Florida

  49 shared

• Daniel J. Hopkins

  University of Pennsylvania

  49 shared

• Rene Almeling

  49 shared

• John Mollenkopf

  49 shared

• Jennifer Darrah

  University of Kansas

  49 shared

• Shannon Portillo

  Arizona State University

  49 shared

• Clude Abrego

  University of Southern California

  49 shared

Labs

• Center for Climate, Environment & HealthPI

Education

• PhD, Sociology

  University of Wisconsin-Madison

  1998

• MA, Sociology

  University of Wisconsin-Madison

  1992

• BA, Sociology

  Bryn Mawr College

  1988

Awards & honors

• NIH grant to address long-term effects of Katrina (2018)