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Discover our risk reduction research

Exploring ways of managing risks and building resilience

Our research focuses on the drivers of risk, seeking more effective ways of managing risk and building resilience.

Our research aims to:

  • Examine risks, seeking improved risk management and resilience
  • Facilitate the transfer of knowledge between academics and practitioners
  • Disseminate information about new technologies and methodologies
  • Provide updates on research funding sources, assist with proposal drafting
  • Encourage multidisciplinary networking, via symposia and media activities
  • Engage citizens, businesses, and policy makers, for actions to reduce risks and increase resilience

Case studies

FOR USE ONLY ON DOMINICA RESEARCH WEB PAGE

Caribbean hurricanes

Many of our researchers were involved in examining the impacts of Hurricane Maria within Dominica, a small-island developing state. That research provided guidelines on ‘Building Back Better’ – not just reconstructing with better buildings and infrastructure, but also rebuilding in safer locations.

The Dominica post-hurricane research also highlighted that a key component of disaster risk management – beyond reducing hazard severity and the degree of exposure or vulnerability – is to improve coping capacity after a hazard event, hence our group’s interest in improving community resilience.

Mozambique search-drones

Our staff are carrying out pioneering research into the uses of drones in disaster management, recently signing an MoU with the World Food Programme.

Research impact

The Risk and Resilience sector is very diverse, matched by the wide variety of research projects and consultancy that we carry out. We have a multi-disciplinary international outlook, working with organisations from the UK and overseas, with a focus on locations where socio-economic constraints make communities more at risk from hazard events.

Our group has a track record in providing research and knowledge transfer services to many organisations, including: 

  • World Health Organisation
  • UK Department for Environment Food and Rural Affairs
  • UK Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities 
  • UK Ordnance Survey
  • UK Satellite Applications Catapult
  • Oil Spill Response Ltd
  • Hampshire Fire and Rescue Service
  • Hampshire & IoW Local Resilience Forum

Members

Through our research, we collaborate with many researchers – spanning all five of our research themes. Many of our members teach on courses in the sector, including MSc Risk, Crisis and Resilience Management and MSc Crisis and Disaster Management – which includes an annual SimEx international disaster response simulation exercise.

Alongside the United Nations Institute for Training and Research, via the UKSA-funded CommonSensing project, our members have developed and delivered online training materials for uses of GIS and satellite remote sensing in disaster risk management, for the governments of Fiji, Vanuatu and the Solomon Islands. 

Richard Michael Teeuw Portrait

Professor Richard Teeuw

Professor of Geoinformatics and Disaster Risk Reduction

Richard.Teeuw@port.ac.uk

School of the Environment and Life Sciences

Faculty of Science and Health

PhD Supervisor

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Peter Lee Portrait

Professor Peter Lee

Interim Associate Dean (Research)

Professor of Applied Ethics

peter.lee@port.ac.uk

School of Criminology and Criminal Justice

Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences

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Sara Eileen Bertin Hadleigh-Dunn Portrait

Media ready expert

Professor Sara Hadleigh-Dunn

Professor of Risk and Organisational Resilience

sara.hadleigh-dunn@port.ac.uk

Strategy Enterprise and Innovation

Faculty of Business and Law

PhD Supervisor

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Ashraf Wasfi Labib Portrait

Professor Ashraf Labib

Professor of Operations and Asset Mgmt

Ashraf.Labib@port.ac.uk

Operations and Systems Management

Faculty of Business and Law

PhD Supervisor

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James Thompson Smith Portrait

Media ready expert

Professor Jim Smith

Professor of Environmental Science

Jim.Smith@port.ac.uk

School of the Environment and Life Sciences

Faculty of Science and Health

PhD Supervisor

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Maria Del Carmen Solana Portrait

Dr Carmen Solana

Associate Professor in Volcanology and Risk Communications

Carmen.Solana@port.ac.uk

School of the Environment and Life Sciences

Faculty of Science and Health

PhD Supervisor

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Craig John Robert Collie Portrait

Dr Craig Collie

Principal Lecturer

craig.collie@port.ac.uk

School of Criminology and Criminal Justice

Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences

PhD Supervisor

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Derek John Rust Portrait

Dr Derek Rust

Associate Professor in Applied Geology

Derek.Rust@port.ac.uk

School of the Environment and Life Sciences

Faculty of Science and Health

PhD Supervisor

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Djamila Ouelhadj Portrait

Professor Djamila Ouelhadj

Professor of Operational Research

Djamila.Ouelhadj@port.ac.uk

School of Mathematics and Physics

Faculty of Technology

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Dylan Francis Jones Portrait

Professor Dylan Jones

Professor of Operational Research

Dylan.Jones@port.ac.uk

School of Mathematics and Physics

Faculty of Technology

PhD Supervisor

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Practitioners and Pracademics 

  • Naomi Morris (World Health Organisation)
  • Phil Crook (Fire & Rescue consultant)
  • Toby Meredith (ServeOn NGO)
  • Dr Rob Holland (Oil Spill Response Ltd)
  • Katherine Haggerty (Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office)
  • Ralph Aytoun (Humanitarian OpenStreetMap Team)
  • Tom Hales (Technical Rescue International Ltd)
  • Alan Wilkins (Mercari insurance)
  • Dr Advait Gandhe (Queen Alexandra Hospital)
  • Eleanor Stack (British Red Cross)

Postdoctoral and visiting and Research Fellows

  • Dr Ehsam Khalefa (2023-2025) – awarded a NERC-funded Daphne Jackson Trust Scholarship: Uses of Satellite Remote Sensing to Monitor Impacts of Climate and Land Use Changes on the Slopes of Kilimanjaro (Supervisors: Nick Pepin and Richard Teeuw).
  • Dr Nasos Argyriou (FORTH Research Institute, Greece)
  • Dr Ian Greatbatch (Midlands Fire Service)
  • Ben French (Hampshire Constabulary)
  • Patrick Dresch (HM Coastguard)
  • Dr Premachandra Wattage (coastal ecosystem economics)
     

PhD research students

  • Toby Meredith (2023-2027) – Research project: Improving the effectiveness of drones for search and rescue (supervisors: Peter Lee and Ed Stoddard).
  • Mykyta Saveliev (2023-2026) – Research project: Enterprise Risk Management in SMEs in Ukraine: Utilising High Reliability Theory to Improve Crisis Resilience (supervisors: Hadleigh-Dunn, Ashraf Labib and Niekrasova: Odessa National Polytechnic University).
  • Andy Webb: (2023-2026) – Research project: Preparing aviators for their robotic future: assessing organisational change to accommodate human factors when introducing AI and autonomous systems (supervisors: Mohamed Shakir, Peter Lee and Ashraf Labib).
  • Harold Chadwick (2022-2025)  – Research project: Measuring the potential Impact of an Integrated CANZUK Whole of Government Disaster Response (supervisors: Richard Teeuw, Carmen Solana and Naomi Morris).

PhD graduates (2023-2022)

  • Dr Hanly Bingari (2023) – Research project: Application of near infrared spectroscopy in sub-surface monitoring of petroleum contaminants (supervisors: Gibson, Teeuw and Couceiro). 
  • Dr Steve Glassey (2023) – Research project: Animal welfare in disaster response (supervisors: Solana and Teeuw).
  • Dr Al-Harrasi (2023) – Research project: Stakeholder Management in a Rainfall Enhancement Project in Oman (supervisors: Labib, Rees and Lee)
  • Dr. Lanndon Ocampo (2023) – Research project: Industrial water circularity in coal-fired thermal power plants: An integrated best-worst method and modified MARCOS based on a novel three-way decision (supervisors: Jones and Labib).
  • Dr. Ahmed Karar (2023)– Research project: Maintenance Strategy Selection Decision-Making Process as An Enabler for Agile Asset Performance Management (supervisors: Labib and Jones).
  • Dr Ayse Yildiz (2022) – Research project: Effectiveness of disaster risk reduction in Turkish schools (supervisors: Teeuw and Roberts).
  • Dr. John Pessima (2022) – Research project: Talent Management (supervisors: Labib and Andersen).

PhD graduates (2021-2020)

  • Dr Martin Parham (2021) – Research project: Perceptions of Dominica school children to hazards, using the PRISM technique (supervisors: Teeuw, Day: UCL, and Solana). 
  • Dr Ali Yesitli (2021) – Research project: Comparative study of flood management in Turkey and the UK. (supervisors: Teeuw, Roberts and Solana).
  • Dr Jens Westrich (2021) – Research project: Risk management within German Organisations in the Context of Russia Sanctions: What can an Organisation do to Mitigate Reputational Risks? (supervisors: Hadleigh-Dunn and Beyer: Reutlingen University, Germany).
  • Dr Kate Buttriss (2021) – Research project: A Framework for Assessing Organisational Risk Appetite (supervisors: Hadleigh-Dunn and Battisti). 
  • Dr. Ferhat Eryut (2021) – Research project: Strategic Planning in German SMEs (supervisor: Labib).
  • Dr Eric Lerche (2020) – Research project: Corporate Security Culture – the development of an effective corporate security culture in the German aviation sector (supervisors: Hadleigh-Dunn and Estler: Reutlingen University, Germany).

Professional practice

The Disaster Risk Management Professional Practice Group of the Royal Geographical Society has taken a lead role in linking professionals from the disaster risk reduction, re/insurance, humanitarian, governmental and academic sectors, to promote best practice.

Other UK professional organisations with which the group has links are the Emergency Planning Society (EPS), the Institute of Civil Protection and Emergency Management (ICPEM) and the Institute of Search and Technical Rescue (ISTR).

Project highlights

Publication highlights

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Portsmouth Research Institute for Space Missions (PRISM) Case for Development

Portsmouth Research Institute for Space Missions (PRISM)

The Portsmouth Research Institute for Space Missions (PRISM) has a poll of experts and research students specialising in Big Data Analytics, involving aspects of Artificial Intelligence and machine learning. One of the outputs from PRISM is the development of crowdsensing and related 'Citizen Science’ technologies, such as Zooniverse., which was used for pioneering crowdsource mapping of earthquake damage in Nepal (2015).  

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