Accessibility and Emergency Management: Inclusive Approaches to Transportation and Climate Disasters

Date: Tuesday, October 27th, 2026

Time: 12 to 1:30 p.m. ET

Language of delivery: English

Platform: Zoom

Accessibility: ASL interpretation and bilingual captioning will be provided. Additional accommodations available as requested.

A Deaf Latina Puerto Rican woman uses American Sign Language while seated at a conference room table with three colleagues. She has long deep brown hair and is wearing a striped business shirt and hoop earrings. One colleague, an African American man with olive and porcelain skin, Non-Segmental Vitiligo, and brown barrel-twist dreadlocks writes in a notebook next to her. He is wearing a blue business suit.
Photo by: Justin Kaneps Photographer for the inaugural All in Frame Collection

About

Join us to explore inclusive approaches to emergency management for transportation and climate-related disasters. Through three presentations, researchers will share findings on the accessibility of emergency management measures in transportation emergencies (a project funded by Accessibility Standards Canada); lessons from climate-related emergency case studies (also funded by Accessibility Standards Canada); and the development of a Canadian Disability Climate Network and Strategy (funded by Employment and Social Development Canada-Sustainable Development Goals (ESDC-SDG)). Together, these projects highlight the diverse and intersectional experiences and needs of persons with disabilities in emergency contexts as well as the partnerships needed to build safer and more resilient communities for everyone.  

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Speakers

Moderator

Photo of Doctor Nirupama Agrawal. She wears glasses and has short brown hair.

Dr. Nirupama Agrawal

Dr. Nirupama Agrawal is a Full Professor and a founding member of York University’s Disaster and Emergency Management. She has a PhD in Water Resources Engineering from Kyoto University. Dr. Agrawal is also an adjunct professor with the UN University Institute for Water, Environment and Health (UNU-INWEH). She has mentored over 70 students, published over 90 refereed articles and book chapters, 2 books, 1 edited book, and guest-edited Special Issues for reputable journals. Her textbook, “Natural Disasters and Risk Management in Canada: An Introduction,” is used in universities and colleges across the globe. She is a recipient of the Dean’s Research Excellence Award. Her over 35 years of professional experience spans a wide range of research topics, including risk assessment of natural, intentional, and technological hazards; community perception of risk; disaster resilience in a changing climate; disaster response; and geospatial technologies for decision-making. 

Presentations

Presentation 1: Transportation EM Accessibility (Accessibility Institute)

Presenters:

  • Samantha Butler 
  • Megan Sipos
  • Arminda Aliu

Presentation #2: Climate Change EM Accessibility (SRDC)

Presenters:

  • Patrick Wray
  • Jasmine Thomas
  • Fraulein Retanal
  • Hsiao-Ying (Vicki) Chang

Presentation #3: Canadian Disability Climate Network and Strategy (Eviance)

Presenters:

  • Evan Wicklund
  • Olivia Boonstra
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