Six new staff members are joining the national Natural Hazards Research Australia team.
The departure of several staff members towards the end of the Bushfire and Natural Hazards CRC coincided with a reorganisation of roles for the new Centre, including the introduction of the staff positions in various key locations around Australia. These new nodes – starting with office spaces within Resilience NSW (NSW) and Queensland Police (Queensland) – will be local points of contact for our end-user and research partners as the national research program of the Centre gets underway.
Research and Implementation Director Dr Shiva Prasad is joining as the new Research and Implementation Director on 29 November, based in NSW. Shiva has many years’ experiences managing research and development teams, programs and projects, most recently as the Technical Development Manager of the Department of Industry, Science, Energy and Resources’ National Measurement Institute. His passion for science and his experience forging important connections between academia and industry make him a valuable addition to our research team.
Node Research Managers As we are in the process of establishing nodes in several states and territories, we have appointed our first two Node Research Managers in Queensland and NSW:
- Nicola Moore is based in Queensland and began in early November, joining us from the Office of the Inspector-General of Emergency Management where she worked as the Executive Manager for Research and Engagement. Nicola has a breadth of experience from working in operational, project and policy roles across Queensland’s disaster management system since 2005.
- Dr Katharine Haynes is based in New South Wales and will join us in early December, moving across from a Research Fellow position at the University of Wollongong. Dr Haynes is an experienced researcher, having completed extensive work for both the Bushfire and Natural Hazards CRC and Bushfire CRC, including recent flood risk communication and cultural land management projects.
Executive Assistant Based in Victoria, Stacey Rosenbrock has joined the team as Executive Assistant to the CEO. Before joining us, Stacey was supporting the executive and academic teams at the Australia and New Zealand School of Government and has also worked with Good Shepherd Australia New Zealand as the People and Culture Coordinator.
Research Services Project Officers We have appointed two new Research Services Project Officers:
- Vana Demetriou is based in Victoria and joined us on 10 November. Vana is a recent graduate of the University of Melbourne with a Masters of Forest Ecosystem Science, and has completed a community engagement internship at the Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning (Vic) within the Forest Fire and Regions – Community Risk Understanding team.
- Supriya Gurung will be based in NSW and starts on 22 November. Supriya recently completed a PhD at Western Sydney University (WSU) on the emergence of volunteerism in a post-disaster context, centred on a Nepalese case study. Supriya was most recently a Humanitarian and Development Research Initiative Fellow at WSU, with experience as a Disaster Recovery Project Officer working on the response to the 2015 Nepal earthquake, as well as a journalist with the Kathmandu Post.
We extend a warm welcome to our six new team members. Each person brings valuable skills and experience that will contribute to the establishment of Natural Hazards Research Australia as an innovative national centre for disaster risk reduction and resilience.
To find out more about working for the Centre as new positions become available, follow us on social media (@HazardsResearch) or subscribe to the monthly newsletter.