It is not always possible to list everyone we work with. So if you can’t find the details of someone you’re looking for, please contact us on ihrr.admin@durham.ac.uk.
Professor Bruce Malamud
Executive Director & Wilson Chair of Hazard and Risk
Bruce joined Durham University on 1 March 2023, as the Wilson Chair of Hazard and Risk, and the Executive Director of the Institute of Hazard, Risk and Resilience (IHRR),Durham University. Bruce is also affiliated with the GeographyDepartment. His research focuses on multi-hazard interrelationships along with single hazard research in landslides, earthquakes, floods and wildfires. Research sub themes include anthropogenic processes, invasive species, time-series analyses, mathematical models, visualisation, complexity, confronting models with data, and communicating science.
Dr Carly Beckerman
Co Director
Dr Beckerman joined Durham University in 2014 to focus on the political psychology of British and American foreign policy in the Middle East. She received her PhD in International Studies from the University of Birmingham in 2013 and spent one year as a Visiting Fellow at the Middle East Centre, London School of Economics and Political Science while lecturing in Foreign Policy Analysis at CityUniversity, London. Dr Beckerman’s research is situated between the fields of Foreign Policy Analysis (FPA) and Conflict Resolution, with a particular focus on the Israel-Palestine conflict.
Dr Sim M. Reaney
Co-Director
Sim’s research is centred on the movement of water through the landscape and the representation of these hydrological processes within both simulation models and geospatial analysis.His work includes the impact of diffuse pollution from the landscape on water quality, catchment hydrological processes and working with natural processes approaches to flood risk management. The connection between these different areas of work is the concept of hydrological connectivity. The testing and representation of how different parts of the landscape connect via hydrological pathways is key to the understanding of these different environmental pressures.
Professor David Toll
David joined IHRR as Co-Director in January 2021. He is a Professor in the Department of Engineering and Director of the Sustainable Infrastructure Research Challenge. His research encompasses both hazards and resilience, with research projects including studies of rainfall-induced landslides in Malaysia, Nepal and Turkey, funded by NERC, AHRC, Royal Academy of Engineering, British Academy and the IHHR Action on Natural Disasters programme. In the UK, David is co investigator on a major £4.8M EPSRC Programme grant (ACHILLES).
Dr Rebekah Harries
Post Doctoral Research Associate
Rebekah is an interdisciplinary geomorphologist interested in climate as a driver of sediment mobilisation through mountain ranges and downstream into flood prone areas. Since completing her PhD with the University of Edinburgh, she has worked as a Postdoc Fellow at the Pontifical Catholic University of Chile and the Chilean National Research Centre for Integrated Natural Disaster Management (CIGIDEN). She combines field data with numerical models to better understand the complex links between rainfall, erosion and sediment transport. Increasingly, she is investing more time in science communication through art and always looking for new collaborations.
Dr Ellen Robson
Ellen is a PDRA in Geotechnical Engineering at the IHRR. Her research focuses on developing stakeholder-focused guidance and methodologies in slope stabilisation for lower income countries. Ellen has just submitted her PhD thesis in Geotechnical Engineering at Newcastle University, which was sponsored by NERC IAPETUS. Her PhD aimed to further understand some of the causes for inadequate road slope stabilisation in lower income country settings and develop stakeholder-focused methodologies based on the findings to aid the planning and design of road slope stabilisation. During her PhD she carried out field work in Nepal and Laos, as well as conducting multiple numerical and lab-based slope stability experiments. Prior to her PhD, Ellen received an MSci in Geology from the University of Birmingham.
Dr Aaron Neill
Aaron’s research is centred on understanding the spatio-temporal drivers of hydrological hazards such as diffuse pollution and flooding. He is particularly interested in the use of agent-based modelling approaches to trace the flow paths and source areas contributing to impaired water quality or high flow events. Such knowledge is needed to optimise spatial targeting of mitigation measures with the potential to address multiple hazards simultaneously. Thus far, I have designed and developed the Model for the Agent-based simulation of Faecal Indicator Organisms (MAFIO), which has been successfully applied to a small agricultural catchment in NE Scotland. MAFIO provides the basis for the development of a multi-agent toolkit that will simulate additional water quality parameters and flood waters; this is the focus of his present work within the Institute of Hazard, Risk and Resilience. He is also interested in exploring new approaches for visualising model output and uncertainty to aid effective communication to stakeholders. Prior to my current post, Aaron completed his PhD and first postdoc at the University of Aberdeen. The former developed a suite of modelling tools to better understand drivers of impaired microbial water quality, whilst the latter applied tracer-aided ecohydrological models to quantify the impacts of land use change on water partitioning.
Dr Hanna Ruszczyk
Hanna’s research is concerned with urban risk and resilience governance strategies and frameworks in cities of the global South. She investigates which portfolio of risks different scales of government are concerned with and which they govern for. Hanna explores how residents manage their interpretation of risk and how residents interact with local authorities which is also a key area of her research. Understanding how the international aid community, different scales of government, and urban residents interact to make regional cities resilient and liveable is an additional element of her research.
Julie Dobson,
Manager, IHRR
julie.dobson@durham.ac.uk
Jules Finn,
Administrator, IHRR
julie.finn@durham.ac.uk
Esha started her PhD in 2022 (funded by the Chritopher Moyes Memorial Foundation). Her tentative PhD title is Avoiding graveyards of drinking water technologies in Bangladesh. Esha is working on issues around water security, looking at drinking water infrastructure situating them as social, economic, and material infrastructure with the aim to understand how the technologies and their governance affect the experiences of people.
Ritwika started her PhD in 2019 (funded by the Christopher Moyes Memorial Foundation). Her PhD title is Climate resilience with or without migrants in cities of the Global South. It will interrogate the inclusion potential of governance of climate risk and resilience in Indian cities. The work primarily draws on the evolving theories of social resilience, climate justice and environmental and climate mobility.
Naznin started her PhD in 2018 (funded by the Christopher Moyes Memorial Foundation). Her PhD focuses on the intersection of postcolonial geography, climate change, and development. Prior to coming to Durham, she was coordinating the migration programme of the International Centre for Climate Change and Development (ICCCAD) in Dhaka, Bangladesh.
Ivo started his PhD in 2019 (Donor funded). His PhD title is Modelling and Mapping Flood Hazards in Data Poor Environments: the case of Nepal. The research focuses on the application of remote sensing and geospatial modelling techniques to determine flood hazard patterns and quantify the long-term flood risk in the Himalayan foreland. This includes the I) mapping of source areas for the generation of floodwater and sediments; ii) determination of the flood hazard magnitude and frequency under consideration of climate change impacts; iii) simulation of morphological changes in the flood plains that influence the flood hazards; and iv) simulation of spatial flood hazard patterns under current and future hydrological and morphological conditions.
Sheena was part of the 2016 intake of the multidisciplinary Action on Natural Disasters (AND) doctoral training programme and is based in Philosophy/ Geography. Sheena worked towards developing simple rules to minimize co-seismic landslide hazard. Complex problems such as hazard analysis and mitigation require decision rules that are adequate to the task in a twofold sense: they work for the environment within which the decision is taken; and they work for the decision-maker who, very often, operates under conditions of great uncertainty, computational limitation and temporal pressure.
Chandika started her PhD in early 2016 (funded by the Christopher Moyes Memorial Foundation). Chandika’s research looked at the geography of postdisaster (physical and psychological) health: spatial patterning of vulnerability and resilience factors in Nepal after the 2015 Gorkha Earthquake.
Gopi was part of the 2016 intake of the multidisciplinary Action on Natural Disasters (AND) doctoral training programme and was based in Geography. Gopi’s research developed effective and sustainable communication strategies for people at risk of landslides in mountainous countries. This ranged from effective strategies for knowledge sharing, responding to early warnings and aligning the latest science on earthquake risk with community understandings and responses. Gopi graduated in 2021.
Eleftheria started her PhD in 2018. Her research rethinks the Financial Instruments for Natural Hazards in Developing countries. Eleftheria graduated as a civil engineer from the National Technical University of Athens and combined her engineering background with Socioeconomics and Disaster Risk Finance. Eleftheria graduated 2021.
Samprada was the recipient of 2016-Action on Natural Disasters (AND) PhD Scholarship initiated by IHRR, Durham University. Her research focused on investigating the effects of earthquakes and monsoon triggered landslides on the strategic roads along hillside slopes of Nepal. She used her Geotechnical Engineering background to understand failure mechanism of past landslides and model potential roadside slope failure scenarios, using field measurements, soil testing, and computer modelling techniques. Samprada graduated 2020
Ayushman started his PhD in 2016 (funded by the Christopher Moyes Memorial Foundation). His PhD aimed to understand the effects of mobilities governance on pre and post-disaster mobilities of migrant women in human trafficking prone areas of South Asia. The research extend the understanding of several dimensions of emergency governance that captured the imaginations of mobilities theorists, and build an understanding of gendered mobilities in the midst of the human trafficking narrative. Ayushman graduated 2019.
Katy was one of 2016 intake of the multidisciplinary Action on Natural Disasters (AND) doctoral training programme and is based in Earth Sciences. Katy's research focused on the use of satellite radar in identifying earthquake-triggered landslides, using the 2015 Gorkha earthquake as a case study. The aim of the project was to develop an automatic detection algorithm for earthquake-triggered landslides and to use this to produce an inventory of landsliding in Nepal from 2014-2018. Katy graduate 2019.
Erwin's thesis was entitled 'Resilience Governmentality: Rationality, Apparatus and Subjectivity in Building Urban Resilience in Indonesia' and was funded by the Christopher Moyes Memorial Foundation. His research focused on “risk governance and governmentality in experimental urban adaptation from Indonesian cities”. The research investigated cities in Indonesia that have joined the Asian Cities Climate Change Resilience Network (ACCCRN) and experiment with adaptation planning, especially when prior institutional frameworks, regulations and successful experiences have never existed. Erwin Nugraha graduated in 2018.
Liaquat's thesis was entitled 'Post-Disaster Housing Reconstruction: A Study of The Government of Pakistan’s Housing Reconstruction Programme in Azard Jammu & Kashmir after the October 2005 Earthquake' and was funded by the Christopher Moyes Memorial Foundation. His thesis provided an auto-ethnographic study to understand how societies become vulnerable to natural disasters and what role post-disaster housing reconstruction can play in addressing this vulnerability. The performance and impact of the post-2005 Kashmir earthquake housing reconstruction program is evaluated in this study by using the mixed-methods research approach. Linqat’s research attempts to find what factors made people vulnerable to seismic hazard in AJK and turned an otherwise not so big 7.6 earthquake into one of the deadliest environmental disasters in the world. Liaqat Hussain graduated in 2017.
Nahid's thesis was entitled 'Disasters and access to healthcare in the coastal region of Bangladesh: a gendered analysis' and was funded by the Christopher Moyes Memorial Foundation. Her research focused on the gender-specific health impacts of cyclones and the factors shaping accessibility to healthcare in disasters. It also investigated current disaster plans and policies for pre-and post-disaster healthcare provision, and to what extent they account for gender. The study was situated in Barguna, Bangladesh, highly vulnerable to cyclones due to its remote coastal location, poor socio-economic conditions and transport, and insufficient healthcare provision. Nahid Rezwana graduated in 2016.
Joseph's thesis was entitled 'Exploring health risks and Resilience in a Rural Population in the Context of Environment-Related Diseases, Ngara, Tanzania' and was funded by the Christopher Moyes Memorial Foundation. Joseph PhD research explored how communities in Ngara, Tanzania perceive risk of environment-related diseases such as malaria and diarrhoeal disease. This research was developed in an attempt to understand how social and cultural beliefs and perceptions mediate health and the way that they contribute to, escalate or reduce risks to health. The study explored these attributes in the context of two issues: firstly, environment-related health risks pertaining to malaria and diarrheal diseases, and secondly residential perceptions and views of public health interventions and programme. Joseph graduated in 2015.
David's thesis was entitled 'Respiratory Hazards from Volcanic Eruptions in South Asia and Central America' and was funded by the Christopher Moyes Memorial Foundation. This research focused on dome-forming eruptions, particularly fine-grained volcanic ash, which can travel deep into the lungs when breathed in. Once inhaled, it can cause damage and disease or worsen existing health problems. For his research, David studied a selection of volcanoes in South Asia and Central America because of widespread concern over the health hazard of ash to communities due to population density and limited access to health care. David Damby graduated in 2012.
Christina's thesis was entitled 'Young people in self-care: Behaviours and Experiences in farming households in Kilmbero Valley, Tanzania' and was funded by the Christopher Moyes Memorial Foundation. Christina completed her Masters in 2011. Her work sought to investigate the vulnerability ad risk exposure of school children to Malaria when parents are away from home farming in the Kilombero valley in southern Tanzania. Christina graduated in social science from the University of Dar es Salaam and previously worked at the Ifakara Health Institute as a research assistant. Christina Makungu graduated in 2011.
Robert is a Hydro Nation PhD Scholar of the Scottish Government at Heriot-Watt University in Edinburgh. His PhD explored the role of local knowledge in community-based flood risk management in Southern Malawi while trying to develop pathways for its enhanced use in development approaches. Trained as a Civil Engineer (BSc and MSc from University of Split in Croatia), and with an MSc in Flood Risk Management (IHE Delft, TU Dresden, UPC Barcelona and University of Ljubljana), Robert was an interdisciplinary researcher with interest in disaster risk reduction at local levels, urban flood resilience, multi and cascading hazards, and serious gaming. His goal was to conduct applied research with tackling real-life challenges in the developing world, through coupling his engineering know-how with in-depth perspectives provided by social sciences. For research outputs, see Robert's Research Gate.
Muhammad was funded by the Christopher Moyes Memorial Foundation. The research aim of the project was to examine climate change adaptation policy in Bangladesh in the context of increasing interest and activity around climate change adaptation and concerns over whether climate adaptation policy and funding are aligned to domestic development priorities. This research project approached through a political economy perspective on climate change adaptation and will follow a qualitative case study approach as the main foundation of methodological design of this research.
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