Irasema Alcantara-Ayala is former Director and current Professor and Researcher at the Institute of Geography of the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM). Her research seeks to understand the root causes and drivers of disaster risk through forensic investigations of disasters, and to promote integrated research on disaster risk. She is particularly interested in bridging the gap between science and policymaking and practice in the developing world.
Christopher Gomez was born in France and, after holding several academic positions in different countries, he took on the Professorship of Sediment Hazards and Disaster Risk (Sabo) at Kobe University in Japan, where he leads the Sabo laboratory. He also holds a research professor position at the Geography Department of Universitas Gadjah Mada in Indonesia, as he is geographically focusing on the Indonesian and Japanese archipelago. His works focus on sediment transfer processes, related hazards as well as the philosophy and ethics of science and scientific research related to hazards and disaster risk.
Ksenia Chmutina is Reader in Sustainable and Resilience Urbanism at Loughborough University, UK. Her research focuses on the processes of urban disaster risk creation and systemic implications of sustainability and resilience in the context of neoliberalism. Ksenia uses her work to draw attention to the fact that disasters are not natural. Ksenia is Co-Host of a popular podcast Disasters: Deconstructed.
Dewald van Niekerk is Professor in Geography and the Founder and Head of the African Centre for Disaster Studies at North-West University. He is Editor-in-Chief of the international journal Jamba: Journal of Disaster Risk Studies. His research interests include resilience thinking, complexity, anticipation and disaster risk governance. Dewald is a South African B3 NRF-rated researcher.
Emmanuel Raju is the Director of The Copenhagen Centre for Disaster Research (COPE) and Associate Professor of Disaster Risk Management at the Global Health Section at the University of Copenhagen. He is also Extraordinary Associate Professor at North-West University, South Africa. His research interests include urban disaster risk creation, disaster recovery processes, and the intersections of disaster risk reduction and climate change adaptation. Emmanuel is also Co-Editor of Disaster Prevention and Management journal.
Victor Marchezini has studied the sociology of disasters in Latin America and Caribbean since 2004 (https://victormarchezini.weebly.com/). He worked as Disaster Risk Analyst in the monitoring room of the Brazilian Warning Center (Cemaden) (2012-2014). Since 2014, he has worked as Researcher at Cemaden, bridging scientists, practitioners, communities and policymakers. One result of this collective effort was the free e-book entitled Reduction of Vulnerability to Disasters: From Knowledge to Action. Victor is also Professor at the Doctorate Program on Earth System Science at the National Institute for Space Research (CCST/INPE) and at the Postgraduate Program on Disaster Science (ICT/UNESP). Twitter account: @VMarchezini.
Jake Rom Cadag is Professorial Lecturer at the Department of Geography of the University of the Philippines Diliman, Philippines. His specialties and research interests include disaster risk reduction and management, climate change adaptation and spatial mapping (i.e. cartography and geographic information system). He is skilled in community work and conduct of participatory methods and tools involving different stakeholders and community members, particularly marginalised sectors (i.e. gender and ethnic minorities, older people, children and people with disabilities, among others).
JC Gaillard is Ahorangi/Professor of Geography at Waipapa Taumata Rau/The University of Auckland. His work focuses on power and inclusion in disaster and disaster studies. It includes developing participatory tools for engaging minority groups in disaster risk reduction with an emphasis on ethnic and gender minorities, prisoners, children and homeless people. More details: https://jcgaillard.wordpress.com.
