Professor Stephen Dovers

Research highlights

Professor Stephen Dovers contributed chapters to two major books in disaster policy, as part of an international book series established by the ANU’s late Professor Helen James:

• Dovers, S. 2022. Policy learning for disaster risk reduction. In: James, H., Shaw, R., Sharma, V. and Lukasiewicz, A. (eds). Disaster risk reduction in Asia Pacific: governance, education and capacity. pp.19-36. Singapore: Palgrave Macmillan.
• Samnakay, N. and Dovers, S. (2022). National policy frameworks for compound, cascading and protracted disasters: learning from other policy sectors. In: Lukasiewicz, A. and O’Donnell, T. (eds). pp.313-39. Complex disasters: compound, cascading, and protracted. Palgrave MacMillan

Professor Dovers was invited to write the inaugural article in a new feature “Viewpoints” in the Australian Journal of Emergency Management, on mainstreaming disaster policy, which in 2022 was published along with commentaries from a range of leading figures in the sector:

• Dovers, S. 2022. Mainstreaming disaster risk reduction, seriously? Australian Journal of Emergency Management. 37(2): 20-23. Available at: https://knowledge.aidr.org.au/resources/ajem-april-2022-mainstreaming-disaster-risk-reduction-seriously/

Outreach

Professor Dovers led the final plenary panel of the 2022 AFAC Conference, Australia’s premier disaster and emergency management conference, in Adelaide in August, on the topic of co-benefits of disaster risk reduction measures.

Professor Dovers was also a co-proponent and participant in a major Academy of Social Sciences project on the past, present and future of Australian cities, and with colleague Elnaz Torabi contributed a paper on climate change adaptation and cities. That and other papers will be published as a major text on the future of Australian cities by ANU Press in 2023.

Professor Phil Cummins

Research highlights

• Martin, S.S., Cummins, P.R. and Meltzner, A.J. 2022. Gempa Nusantara: A Database of 7380 Macroseismic Observations for 1200 Historical Earthquakes in Indonesia from 1546 to 1950
• Davies, G., Webber, R., Wilson, K. and Cummins P.R. 2022. From offshore to onshore probabilistic tsunami hazard assessment via efficient Monte Carlo sampling

Professor Hugh Davies

Awards and honours

The PNG Centre for Disaster Reduction will this year receive the Hamaguchi Award as recognition for the Centre's efforts to promote disaster awareness and preparedness in Papua New Guinea.

Professor Davies was one of the founders of the Centre, before leaving PNG in 2018. Professor Joseph Espi PhD and Ms Yayamel (Lara) Aisi MSc will travel to Japan to receive the award in November. It is a high award and is a mark of international recognition for the Centre. The Centre produced the book Aitape Story, a complete record of the 1998 Aitape tsunami, to promote continuing awareness of tsunami risk in SW Pacific.

Associate Professor Bob Webb

Research highlights

• Stafford-Smith, Mark, David Rissik, Roger Street, Brenda Lin, Veronica Doerr, Robert Webb, Lesley Andrew, Russell M. Wise. 2022. Climate change adaptation guidance: Clarifying three modes of planning and implementation. Climate Risk Management.

Dr Steven Lade

Education

In 2022 Dr Steven Lade convened a new postgraduate course: ENVS8019 Sustainable Futures: Staying on Track. The course is designed to engage students in the systems thinking and modelling tools needed for tackling complex multi-scale issues involved in creating sustainable futures.