Natural Hazards Research Australia’s Education programs are ever-expanding, with three new scholarship students and six new associate students joining and contributing to the Centre’s research network.
New scholarship recipients
Kiam Padamsey’s PhD from Edith Cowan University seeks to further our understanding of the contaminants present in bushfire smoke that firefighters may be exposed to. His project, Smoke exposure profiles of bushfire fighters in the south-west ecoregion of Western Australia, will be conducted in four stages to build an exposure profile of bushfire fighters. In gaining a better understanding of the exposure pathways and risks to firefighter health, Kiam’s research will set up fire management bodies to better prepare and protect the people who respond to fire events across the country for years to come.
Nina Rogers from the University of Tasmania is examining the role and influence of municipal elected and executive leaders on the mainstreaming of climate-related risk mitigation and adaptation responses within four councils in Tasmania. The new knowledge created from her project, Exploring leadership for municipal climate change adaptation planning and implementation, will provide much needed evidence, translated into actionable improvements, to enable councils across Australia and internationally to accelerate and sustain their climate-related risk mitigation and adaptation efforts for enhanced community and organisational resilience to future natural hazard events.
Jady Smith’s PhD with the University of the Sunshine Coast is investigating the potential of urban water reuse as a fire risk mitigation strategy in the rural-urban interface. His project, Mitigating fire through water management in the rural-urban interface, will improve disaster risk mitigation strategies in the rural-urban interface, support the role of water as a fire risk indicator through soil and fuel moisture monitoring, reduce risk associated with existing fire mitigation strategies and complement fire and integrated water resource management research for urban areas.
As scholarship recipients, Kiam, Nina and Jady join 12 other postgraduate students. For details on the Centre’s Postgraduate Research Scholarship program, including eligibility criteria, how to apply and key dates, click here.
New associate students
Sumayyah Ahmad’s PhD project, An investigation of spontaneous volunteers’ social media engagement in emergency disaster management, is being completed with Curtin University and is investigating the impact of social media in facilitating spontaneous volunteers to participate in the actual crisis communication for major disasters—not just in recovery and response activities. This research will collect suggestions from spontaneous volunteers to better communicate with them and integrate them with official responders and traditional volunteer organisations for efficient disaster management.
Russell Dippy’s PhD project at Charles Sturt University is exploring what human capacity demands should inform the development and appointment of an emergency manager. This project will analyse all Australian judicial and semi-judicial reports of emergency events over a 20-year period to discover the role of human capacity in emergency management. His PhD is titled, The human capacity demands of an emergency manager in Australia.
Annal Dhungana’s research, conducted through Massey University, seeks to contribute towards the development of a guiding mechanism to communicate model uncertainty by understanding decision-maker needs. His PhD, Effective communication of uncertainty around modelling in hazard and risk models, will engage decision-makers to identify model-uncertainties need, while also understanding the current practice of model uncertainty communications from modellers.
Victoria Heinrich’s PhD at the University of Tasmania is investigating user and expert and cognition and behaviour around the use of environmental information in Australia and Antarctica so that we may improve weather services, education and risk communication. Findings from this research may be applied to build more prepared and resilient communities through helping people to understand their hazard risks, develop situational awareness and make safer weather-related decisions, particularly during severe or extreme weather events. Victoria’s PhD title is, Use of weather and climate information: risk perception and decision-making in Antarctica, the sub-Antarctic and Australia.
Ryan McNeilly Smith is conducting his PhD with the University of the Sunshine Coast and will apply sociotechnical systems methods and urban climate modelling scenarios to understand bioclimatic design principles in the public realm through urban planning and design policy. The overall aim of this research, titled Developing bioclimatic urban planning and design policy for the public realm, is to develop recommendations that can improve urban climate and outdoor thermal comfort outcomes in public spaces.
Anna Williams (Australian National University) is addressing how communities adapt, learn and transform in response to cascading disasters and how these factors contribute to preparedness for future disaster. Her PhD project, Exploring community resilience to cascading disasters in Australia, will explore the different resilience strategies that emerge in response to different types of social, economic and environmental adversity.
Through the Associate Student program, the Centre provides opportunities for students undertaking postgraduate research in a relevant field to become part of the natural hazards research community in Australia and New Zealand. As part of this network, Sumayyah, Russell, Annal, Victoria, Ryan and Anna and 12 other associate students will be able to participate in professional development activities offered by the Centre, apply for short-term placements in partner organisations, apply for funding support and more. Find out more and apply here.