Scholars
Erica Akemi Goto
University of Arizona
Based in
United States
North America
Erica is a Research Scientist at the University of Arizona’s International Resilience Lab at the Arizona Institute for Resilience. She earned her Ph.D. in Geography from UC Santa Barbara and specializes in climate adaptation and vulnerability. Her work integrates mixed methods and spatial analysis and spans several global contexts, including Brazil, India, East Africa, and Bangladesh.
Country(ies) of Specialty
Brazil India Tanzania United StatesFocus areas of expertise
Climate Justice Behavioral action Indigenous studiesHow to Connect
Publications
Articles
Goto, Erica A., S. Domingue, S. Kalafatis, G. Wong-Parodi, A. Basaraba, and M. C. Lemos. “What Leads to Equitable Adaptation Intentions?” Climate Risk Management, accepted.
Githu, Duncan W., Z. Guido, Erica A. Goto, C. Hannah, J. Kamunge, E. Mutanda, T. J. Fina, P. Fina, K. Fox, R. Mukherjee, S. Nelson, and P. Sharma. “Humanitarian Assistance and Its Expected Behavior and Land Use Changes: Insights from Bangladesh and Kenya.” International Journal of Disaster Risk Reduction, 2026, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijdrr.2026.106036.
Lemos, Maria C., L. Maillard, N. C. Herbert, S. Domingue, K. Jagannathan, G. Wong-Parodi, Erica A. Goto, D. Gill, D. Van Berkel, S. Kalafatis, J. Jorns, A. Basaraba, and T. Harrison. “Scaling up Actionable Knowledge.” PNAS, 2025, https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2515771122.
Smith, K., Erica A. Goto, S. Domingue, S. Kalafatis, M. L. Bartley, T. L. Preston, and P. G. Hernandez. “Mapping Rural Local Government Capacity for Climate Resilience Projects in the US.” Public Administration Review, 2025, https://doi.org/10.1111/puar.70025.
Goto, Erica A., S. Gray, and E. Keller. “Why Does Institutional Vulnerability Matter? Perceptions of Community Members from the 2018 Montecito Debris Flows in California.” International Journal of Disaster Risk Reduction, 2025, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijdrr.2025.105185.
Kalafatis, S., Erica A. Goto, S. Domingue, and M. C. Lemos. “FEMA Disaster Aid and the Complexity of Equity.” Climate Risk Management, 2024, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.crm.2024.100659.
Domingue, S. J., Erica A. Goto, L. Maillard, T. Harrison, and A. Basaraba. “Unpacking ‘Community,’ ‘Social Vulnerability,’ and ‘Equity’: Critical Insights from Stormwater Climate Adaptation Research in the U.S. Gulf Coast.” Community Science, 2023, https://doi.org/10.1029/2023CSJ000068.
Goto, Erica A., S. J. Domingue, S. Kalafatis, R. G. Ramos, and S. Salap-Ayca. “Do the Type of Impact and Vulnerability Dimension Matter When Assessing Natural Hazard Vulnerability?” International Journal of Disaster Risk Reduction, 2023, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijdrr.2023.104069.
Salap-Ayca, S., and Erica A. Goto. “Beware the Rise of Models When They Are Wrong: Looking at Heat Vulnerability with a Spyglass.” Proceeding GIScience 2023: 12th International Conference on Geographic Information Science (GIScience 2023), edited by R. Beecham, J. A. Long, D. Smith, Q. Zhao, and S. Wise, vol. 277, LIPICS, 2023, https://doi.org/10.4230/LIPIcs.GIScience.2023.64.
Van Berkel, D., T. Estabrook, N. Fox, R. A. Bejarano, L. Maillard, D. Gill, Erica A. Goto, and M. C. Lemos. “PPGISr: An R Package for Public Participatory GIS.” Software X, 2023, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.softx.2023.101389.
Goto, Erica A., A. M. Suarez, and H. Ye. “Spatial Analysis of Social Vulnerability in Sao Paulo City.” Applied Geography, 2022, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apgeog.2022.102653.
Goto, Erica A., and J. L. Picanço. “The Role of Risk Perception Outreach Courses in the Context of Disaster Risk Management: The Example of São Paulo City, Brazil.” International Journal of Disaster Risk Reduction, 2021, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijdrr.2021.102307.
Goto, Erica A., S. Gray, E. Keller, and K. Clarke. “Evacuation Choice Before and After Major Debris Flows: The Case of Montecito, CA.” International Journal of Disaster Risk Reduction, 2021, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijdrr.2021.102400.
Goto, Erica A., and K. Clarke. “Using Expert Knowledge to Map the Level of Risk of Shallow Landslides in Brazil.” Natural Hazards, 2021, https://doi.org/10.1007/s11069-021-04752-3.
Goto, Erica A., and K. Clarke. “Ordinal Logistic Regression to Automatic Classify Shallow Landslide Risk Level in Sao Paulo City, Brazil.” Understanding and Reducing Landslide Disaster Risk, Springer, 2021, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-60227-7_54.
Goto, Erica A., S. Gray, E. Keller, and K. Clarke. “Using Mixed-Methods to Understand Community Vulnerability to Debris Flows in Montecito, CA.” Understanding and Reducing Landslide Disaster Risk, Springer, 2021, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-60227-7_50.
Keller, E., C. Adamitis, P. Alessio, Erica A. Goto, and S. Gray. “Montecito Debris Flows of 9 January 2018: Physical Processes and Social Implications.” From the Islands to the Mountains: A 2020 View of Geologic Excursions in Southern California, edited by R. V. Heermance and J. J. Schwartz, Geological Society of America Field Guide 59, 2020, pp. 95–114, https://doi.org/10.1130/2020.0059(03).