Bio

Dr. Alex Greer is the Director of the Hazards Vulnerability & Resilience Institute (HVRI) and Professor of Geography at the University of South Carolina. He earned his Ph.D. (2015) in Disaster Science and Management from the University of Delaware. Dr. Greer's research sits at the intersection of climate change adaptation and emergency management, examining how policymakers design interventions to address the impacts of climate change and disasters and how individuals and households adapt their lives and homes to hazards. His work typically occupies the space between mitigation and recovery, where stakeholders make difficult decisions about how to reduce their hazard exposure. His peer-reviewed publications have appeared in venues including Applied Geography, Climate Risk Management, GeoJournal, Journal of Environmental Psychology, Natural Hazards Review, Risk Analysis, The Professional Geographer, and Weather, Climate, and Society. His work has been featured in The New York Times, NPR, Scientific American, The Wall Street Journal, and Rolling Stone.

Research

• Hazard adjustments
• Managed retreat and climate adaptation
• Disaster recovery and housing policy

Teaching

GEOG 530: Environmental Hazards

Selected Publications

Dr. Greer's Google Scholar

• Greer, A., Islam, A., Binder, S.B., Schumann, R., and Mockrin, M. (2026) "'There's a lot of life in a dead tree': Attachment, loss, and the permeation of place through wildfire recovery in Northern California." Journal of Environmental Psychology, 113(103134), 1–12.
• Clarke, A., Zavar, E., Binder, S.B., and Greer, A. (2026) "Crime on Post-Buyout Open Space: Resident Perceptions versus Reported Events." The Professional Geographer, 78(1), 14–25.
• Schwaller, N., BenDor, T., Greer, A., and Berke, P. (2025) "Migration due to floodplain buyouts mimics general post-disaster migration patterns." Climate Risk Management, 48(100715), 1–18.
• Schumann, R., Mockrin, M., Balachandran, B., Binder, S.B., and Greer, A. (2025) "Flashpoints Between Wildfire Recovery & Mitigation in Northern California." International Journal of Disaster Risk Reduction, 119(105270), 1–17.
• Greer, A., Binder, S.B., and Zavar, E. (2025) "Gift or Hardship: A Proposed Reframing of Home Buyout Programs in the U.S." International Journal of Mass Emergencies and Disasters, 43(3), 53–59. 
• Li, Y., Greer, A., and Wu, T. (2024) “Applying Extended Parallel Process Model to Understand Households’ Responses to Tornado and Earthquake Risks in Oklahoma.” Risk Analysis. 44(2), 408-424.
• Zavar, E., Greer, A., Binder, S.B., and Niazi, S.* (2023) “The Expression of Visual Culture on Flood Buyout Landscapes, Harris County, TX.” GeoJournal. 88, 5287-5304.