Erin Gibbs Van Brunschot is an Associate Professor of Sociology and Associate Dean of Social Sciences at the University of Calgary, Canada. She received her BA and MA in Sociology from the University of Calgary, and her PhD from the University of Alberta. Her research focuses on the concept of risk as it primarily applies to criminal offending and victimization. Her current research projects include an examination of how past experiences with various types of hazards influence self-protective behavior and expectations for the future, and the means by which individual and institutional efforts