Thomas Princen

Thomas Princen, an associate professor at the University of Michigan, focuses on sustainability and the ethics of resource use. He discusses how personal experiences, like the Sonoma fires, inspired his research on extreme events. Princen differentiates resilience from climate adaptation and highlights local signals that inspire societal change. He explores the challenges of rebuilding in disaster-prone areas, the need for broader policy links, and advocates for a proactive fire ethic to encourage adaptive living with natural hazards.