Victor Perez is an associate professor of sociology with specializations in environmental justice, health & illness, and the sociology of risk.  He is trained in quantitative survey research and has developed skills in mixed-methods research approaches in recent years, including field observations and focus groups.  A unifying theme throughout his career is the entwined configuration of health, risk, and society, focusing on environmental and health issues through a social constructionist and social justice lens.  Currently, his research uses a mixed-methods approach to examine perceptions of historic contaminants and sea-level rise in an impoverished area in South Wilmington, DE, where he is working with an interdisciplinary team that is evaluating levels of historic contaminants and hypothesizing their mobility through water inundation. Victor uses geo-spatial mapping to teach environmental justice and risk issues, and incorporates his research into his teaching.  Currently, he is formulating a project to examine how social conditions facilitate successful adaptive migration from climate change impacts in local DE communities.

Entering his 12th year as a faculty member in the Department of Sociology and Criminal Justice at UD, Victor regularly teaches introductory sociology (Honors and non-Honors), and taught quantitative sociological research methods/social statistics/data analysis consistently for 8 years.  Recently, in addition to introductory sociology, he has focused on teaching courses that he has created, including Sociology of Diagnosis and Environment and Health.  Recently, Victor has also developed and taught an online version of sociological research methods and statistics.  As a faculty affiliate of both the Delaware Environmental Institute (DENIN) and the Disaster Research Center (DRC), he contributes to numerous initiatives and offices around campus, including service on the university’s Institutional Review Board.