David Etkin is an Associate Professor of Disaster and Emergency Management at York University. Previously, he worked for Environment Canada from 1977-2005 as a weather forecaster, meteorology teacher and applied researcher. He has contributed to several national and international natural hazard projects, was Principal Investigator of the Canadian National Assessment of Natural Hazards and is Past President of the Canadian Risk and Hazards Network. He has more than 80 publications to his credit including a textbook on disaster theory and six edited volumes.