OUR PEOPLE
PROFESSOR DAVID JOHNSTON
Joint Centre for Disaster Research (Director) - QuakeCore (Deputy Director)
David Johnston's research has developed as part of multi-disciplinary theoretical and applied research programme, involving the collaboration of physical and social scientists from several organisations and countries. He is the leader of QuakeCore's Flagship Programme 5: Pathways to Improved Resilience.
DR RAJ PRASANNA
Massey University (Senior Lecturer)
Raj Prasanna is an expert in Technology and Systems for supporting Emergency Management. Raj's current research interests include application of Internet of Things (IoT) for Disaster Management, Human Computer Interface supporting Emergencies and Cognitive Requirements Capturing Techniques for Emergencies.
ASSISTANT PROFESSOR MAX STEPHENS
University of Auckland (Lecturer)
Max Stephens works in the area of structural engineering with an emphasis on resiliency and engineering for extreme events. Stephens' research interests include developing new and innovative systems to facilitate construction and mitigate damage to meet resiliency requirements in infrastructure and buildings.
DR MARION TAN
Massey University (Postdoctoral Fellow)
Marion Tan's research work contributes to enhancing resilience through understanding the intersection between human behaviour and technology during disasters. Her areas include participatory approaches in designing warning systems. She advocates for the responsible design of technology.
PROFESSOR KEN ELWOOD
University of Auckland - Ministry of Business Innovation and Employment (Chair in Earthquake Engineering) - QuakeCore (Research Director)
Ken Elwood is actively involved in research related to the seismic response of existing concrete and masonry buildings. He is the leader of QuakeCore's Flagship Programme 3: Addressing Earthquake-vulnerable Buildings – A Multidisciplinary Approach.
DR SR UMA
GNS Science (Risk and Engineering Team Leader)
SR Uma is an Earthquake Engineer at GNS Science. Her research focuses include risk assessment and recovery modelling of infrastructure networks, building structure and secondary structure (non-structural components), loss assessment of large portfolio and infrastructure, and seismic instrumentation of structures.
DR JULIA BECKER
Massey University (Senior Lecturer)
Julia Becker undertakes social science research on a range natural hazard and environmental issues. Her areas of expertise include perceptions, preparedness, community resilience, emergency management and warnings.
NILANI RANGIKA
Massey University (PhD Candidate)
Nilani's research focuses on the integration of multimodal data using Artificial Intelligence to facilitate situational awareness. With modern technological advancements and the amount of data collected increasing, proper integration of multimodal data would enhance accuracy and relevance, and more informed decision making.
DR EMMA HUDSON-DOYLE
Massey University (Senior Lecturer)
Emma Hudson-Doyle interests lie at the interface between physical science and critical decision makers, with a primary focus on the communication of science advice during natural hazard events. Current research focuses on the communication of forecast and model uncertainty.
YASIR IMTIAZ SYED
Massey University (PhD Candidate)
Yasir Imtiaz Syed's PhD thesis is titled “Development of a Decision Support System (DSS) through modelling of Critical Infrastructure Interdependencies”. Yasir has developed a fully customizable Knowledge centered DSS which facilitates the decision makers to test and verify different repair strategies during the recovery of electricity, water and road networks.
PROFESSOR JOHN HOPKINS
University of Canterbury
Dr. Hopkins is a comparative public lawyer with specialisms in disaster law, multi-level governance, administrative justice and anti-corruption. He is currently a Principal Investigator on the Regulating For Resilience Project (the Wellington Case Study) Project (2018-2020) funded by QuakeCoRE, the NZ Centre for Excellence in Seismic Resilience.