His research centers on community risk and resilience to natural hazards and climate change, in the United States and India. He is especially interested in how planning and urban governance shapes the geographies of risk and resilience in cities. His current research projects include a longitudinal study of household and community recovery after the 2013 Colorado floods; an examination of the role of collaborative networks in protecting historic resources from environmental hazards; and a study of small cities and environmental risk in the Darjeeling-Sikkim region of eastern India. Rumbach holds a doctorate and a master’s degree in City and Regional Planning from Cornell University and a bachelor’s in Political Science from Reed College.