This is my first blog as the CEO of Natural Hazards Research Australia and firstly I wish to pay tribute to my predecessor, Dr Richard Thornton, who contributed much to Australia’s natural hazards research capability over the last 18 and a half years. Together with the broader team he has laid a solid foundation for the future success of Natural Hazards Research Australia.
It certainly has been a year of extremes with record breaking floods across eastern Australia and now severe heat, drought, fires and floods across the northern hemisphere. These events continue to demonstrate the role of underlying social vulnerabilities and complex interdependencies in exacerbating natural hazard impacts.
Recent inquiries into the eastern Australian floods have highlighted challenges across planning, warnings, response and recovery and have called for changes in land use planning, flood education and mitigation approaches amongst others. It is positive to see post flood resilience programs being implemented including buybacks, house raising and retrofitting. Previous research led by the Bushfire and Natural Hazards CRC found that such initiatives could be cost-effective.
Natural Hazards Research Australia has an important role in driving tangible change through research to enhance the safety, resilience and sustainability of our communities. Inquiry findings call for further research to understand extreme rainfall and compound mental health impacts, and to support the implementation of Aboriginal caring for Country and green infrastructure methods. An important project led by the Centre is already underway to capture the experiences of communities during and after the 2022 eastern Australia floods which will be used to enhance future planning, warning and engagement strategies.
The upcoming Natural Hazards Research Forum to be held in Brisbane from 12 – 14 October will be an opportunity for all to engage with our research program and meet research and resilience leaders. Coinciding with the United Nation’s International Day for Disaster Risk Reduction, the Forum program also includes the final of our inaugural Disaster Challenge, an initiative designed to encourage new ideas, new thinking and new research. I encourage all to attend the Forum and wish the Disaster Challenge finalists the best of luck.
The Forum will build on our recent sponsorship of the research day at the AFAC22 conference in Adelaide, which featured many of our researchers. I wish to congratulate AFAC on another successful conference.
Finally, I wish to extend a warm welcome to Prof Deborah Bunker who has joined our team for the next 12 months as the Centre’s Chief Science Officer. Deborah’s role will be key to driving the Centre’s research and will work closely across end-users to ensure research is responsive to their needs. Deb will be based at our Sydney node.