Steering committee

Amy Donovan is an academic in the department of geography at the University of Cambridge and Official Fellow and director of studies in geography at Girton College. She is PI of the Imagine ERC project on the imaginaries of the environment and risk, part of the Tomorrow's Cities GCRF Hub project and co-deputy-director of the Mount Paektu Research Centre. Amy is an interdisciplinary geographer with interests in the geographies of risk and (non-)knowledge in disaster risk reduction, the integration of science and policy, cultures and political geology, and volcanology. She has a background in literature but studied an MSc in geophysical hazards at UCL and did a PhD in interdisciplinary volcanology.

Susanne Sargeant is co-chair of UKADR and a researcher at the British Geological Survey. Susanne is a seismologist specialising in seismic hazard and has a strong interest in how science is used for decision making for disaster risk management. Her current research and knowledge exchange activities reflect that and focus on maximising the use and usefulness of geoscience knowledge in humanitarian decision making and supporting recovery.

Susanne leads the Living in Multi-hazard Environments strand of the BGS's international geoscience research programme.

Dr Marie Aronsson-Storrier is a lecturer in law at University College Cork. Previous to joining UCC in April 2022, Marie was a lecturer in global law and disasters at the University of Reading. Marie has published widely on law and disasters, including the edited collections The Cambridge Handbook of Disaster Risk Reduction and International Law (CUP, 2019) and Defining Disaster: Disciplines and Domains (Edward Elgar, 2022). Her current research explores the role of law in creating and addressing disaster risk, including questions around root causes of risk and the inclusion of marginalised groups and persons in law, and decision making processes.

David Alexander is professor of risk and disaster reduction at University College, London. He has taught emergency planning and management for 42 years. His books include 'Natural Disasters', 'Confronting Catastrophe', 'Principles of Emergency Planning and Management', 'Recovery from Disaster' (with Ian Davis) and 'How to Write an Emergency Plan'. He is the founding editor-in-chief of the International Journal of Disaster Risk Reduction and vice-president of the Institute of Civil Protection and Emergency Management. His research interests centre on disaster risk reduction, natural hazards and earthquake disasters. He is currently writing a new book on emergency management, a companion to his recent emergency planning volume. David Alexander is currently working for the UK Government on risk management issues and for the EU Scientific Advice Mechanism. He holds subsidiary academic appointments in Sweden, Portugal, Switzerland and Japan.

Dilanthi Amaratunga holds the chair in disaster risk management at the University of Huddersfield, UK, where she leads its Global Disaster Resilience Centre. She is engaged in many significant research collaborations around the world, in partnership with key academic and other organisational stakeholders and has project managed many international research projects to successful completion, generating significant research outputs and outcomes. She provides expert advice on disaster resilience to national and local governments and international agencies, including the UNDRR. Among many leadership roles, she is the joint chief editor of the International Journal of Disaster Resilience in the Built Environment. In 2019, she won the prestigious Newton Prize, which recognises the best research and innovation projects that create an impact socially and economically. She is a Fellow of the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors, a Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society, and a Fellow and a Chartered Manager of the Chartered Management Institute, UK. More information on Dilanthi Amaratunga.

Dr Mirianna Budimir is the Senior Climate and Resilience Expert in the Impact, Influence and Innovation team at Practical Action with over thirteen years of disaster risk reduction research experience. Her work at Practical Action focuses on disaster risk reduction, early warning systems, gender, equity and social inequalities, science and risk communication, and international development. She works closely with overseas colleagues in Latin America, Africa and South Asia to identify and meet the needs of communities and institutional stakeholders to improve resilience to climate change-related disasters. She holds a Doctor of Philosophy degree on the topic of cascading multi-hazards and risk, uses qualitative and quantitative research techniques to inform interventions in developing country contexts, and works closely with academics and in-country stakeholders to ensure research is useful, usable, and used.

For more information: Mirianna Budimir | LinkedIn

Kate Donovan is an interdisciplinary applied risk and resilience researcher and deputy programme director for an MSc in carbon management. She lectures in climate change risk, social vulnerability, disasters and adaptation. She has worked as an applied researcher, consultant and practitioner in disaster risk reduction and climate change adaptation for over fifteen years. She currently leads global and local research projects that aim to examine the role of heritage for climate change risk assessment and adaptation. She sits on the Scottish Scientific Advisory Committee and advises the Scottish Government and local authorities on climate change adaptation.

Roger Few is a professorial research fellow in environment, risk and development in the School of International Development at the University of East Anglia. His research is primarily in lower-income countries and centres on how households, communities and institutions respond to risks and impacts, and the structural factors that shape their vulnerability. Much of this work lies at the confluence between research in disaster risk reduction and climate change adaptation, with linkages to themes of well-being, environmental health, water security and social justice. His concern for issues of equity and sustainability has led to an increasing emphasis in recent research on the long-term processes of recovery from extreme events.

Joel Gill is Lecturer in Sustainable Geoscience at Cardiff University. His interdisciplinary research integrates natural and social science approaches to address issues relating to sustainable development and disaster risk reduction, particularly in lower-income countries. Joel has been involved in 'multi-hazards' research for more than a decade, advancing understanding of the interrelationships between natural hazards (e.g., how one hazard triggers another hazard, or changes the likelihood of another hazard occurring) and how these contribute to dynamic risk. Alongside his role at Cardiff University, Joel is the Founder and Executive Director of Geology for Global Development, working at the science-policy-practice interface to transform understanding of, access to, and capacity to use the geoscience required to implement the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). He is the lead Editor of the book 'Geosciences and the SDGs', published by Springer in 2021.

Paul is an interdisciplinary environmental economist, based at the University of York, working on various aspects of human behaviour before, after, and during a disaster event (mainly flooding) and what we can do to better prepare for these events. Paul's research mainly focuses on understanding the effectiveness and use of property-level protection, insurance related mechanisms, and nature-based solutions. He is currently a co-Investigator on the Ousewem project looking at the use, value, and attitudes towards nature-based solutions across Yorkshire. Paul is also an editor of the Journal of Flood Risk Management.

Virginia Murray is a public health doctor committed to improving health emergency and disaster risk management. She was appointed as head of global disaster risk reduction for the UK Health Security Agency (formerly Public Health England) in April 2014. She is a member of the Integrated Research on Disaster Risk (IRDR) scientific committee, co-chair of IRDR's Disaster Loss Data (DATA) and is currently the chair of the UNDRR/ISC Hazard Classification and Review Technical Working Group. She is co-chair of the WHO Thematic Platform Health and Disaster Risk Management Research Network and, by working in collaboration with this network, she is one of the editors of the WHO Guidance on Research Methods for Health and Disaster Risk Management, published in October 2021. She is a visiting/honorary professor and fellow at several universities.

More information on Virginia Murray.

Mark Ashley Parry is the ECR representative of the UKADR. Outside of UKADR, he is an associate lecturer in disaster and development studies at Northumbria University and a tutor of climate change at The Brilliant Club. His research focuses on public risk perception towards climate change and climate change policy in the Global North, with a particular emphasis on youth. He is also involved in numerous committees at the IDRiM Society, including the chair of the Young Scientist Session.

More information on Mark Ashley Parry.

John Rees is chief scientist for multi-hazards and risk at the British Geological Survey, with particular interest in the characterisation of multi-hazards and their associated risks and resilience. Previously he was RCUK Risk Research Champion, a UKRI GCRF Challenge Lead, and headed the NERC Natural Hazard and Risk and Resilience themes. He led the Major Group for Science and Technology during development of the UN Sendai Framework, was the first Chair of the UK Disasters Research Group and was a co-founder of UKADR. After graduating from Sheffield University, John undertook his PhD at Trinity College, Dublin, and he is a visiting professor at Leicester University.

Alexander Thompson is Head of Emergency Preparedness, Resilience and Response (EPRR) for NHS Buckinghamshire, Oxfordshire and Berkshire West Integrated Care Board. Alex has previously served as Head of EPRR and Head of the Regional Operations Centre for NHS England in the South West region. Alex's work involves leading the preparedness and response activity of whole health systems to a range of hazards and scenarios. Whilst with NHS England, Alex led on regional programmes of activity including communicable diseases, pandemics and mass casualty preparedness. Alex has played a role in responding to a range of crises, from rail disasters, acts of terrorism, the Salisbury Novichok poisonings and the COVID-19 pandemic. Alex is a PhD student with University College London's Institute of Risk and Disaster Reduction where he researches health system preparedness with a focus on extreme heat. Alex is a Fellow of the Institute of Civil Protection and Emergency Management, and a Fellow of the Royal Society of Public Health.

More information: Thompson Thinks | LinkedIn

Emily Wilkinson is a senior research fellow in the ODI Global Risks and Resilience Programme, co-director of the Caribbean Resilience and Recovery Knowledge Network (CRRKN) and chief scientific advisor to the Climate Resilience Agency for Dominica (CREAD). Emily has 25 years' experience working as a researcher, analyst, journalist, lecturer and advisor, working with governments, UN agencies and international financial institutions, NGOs and scientific agencies to identify critical entry points and opportunities for overcoming hazardous geographies and managing risk in line with development priorities. She specialises in building the resilience of small island developing states (SIDS), with a current portfolio that includes several multi-year, multi-country projects focused on the political economy of investment in climate resilience, risk governance, effectiveness and accountability of disaster and climate finance, institutional learning and capacity strengthening.

Prof Andrew Collins is Professor of Disaster and Development with the Disaster and Development Network (DDN) at Northumbria University, UK. He works with disaster, development, health and education initiatives that engage multi-sector partnerships. His research developed from an interdisciplinary focus on environment, health and population displacement. He established the disaster management and sustainable development postgraduate programme at Northumbria in 2000 with an accompanying disaster and development research centre and an ongoing network. His research interests concern impacting theoretical, methodological and policy aspects of disaster risk reduction and response, health ecology, sustainable development, adaptive capacity and human security.

More information about Andrew Collins.