Emergency management education and capability development
Hazard management education and communication
I first got interested in hazard management back in 2010. As part of a national educational research project, I engaged in teaching observations in an undergraduate natural hazards course at the University of Canterbury. I became intrigued by the topic, the fact that geologists are not often able to convince people to take precautions against natural hazards. It sounded like a science education issue. I offered my expertise in this area to the natural hazards management (now Disaster Risk & Resilience) research team. This started an ongoing collaboration, where we combine research in disaster risk & resilience, with science education, communication, and psychology, to investigate ways in which hazard scientists, emergency managers and civil defence authorities could be prepared to more effectively to on a role as science and hazard communicators. This work accelerated substantially in light of the Canterbury Earthquake Sequence (2010 - 2012). These events directly impacted us, but also highlighted significant issues in communication, and the interplay between scientists, emergency managers, the press, and the general public. We were more determined than ever to work together to make a difference.
Our collaboration has resulted in many educational innovations along the way, including a joint exercise between Disaster Risk & Resilience and Journalism students, which was designed by Prof Tom Wilson, Dr Tara Ross, and myself. In this exercise, DRR students have to effectively manage an evolving authentic hazard situation. For the journalism students, it is an exercise in breaking news reporting. Our exercise received the International Association of Emergency Managers Oceania Region Technology and Innovation Award, Division 2, 2015, as well as a University of Canterbury Teaching Innovation Award in 2016. In addition, Prof Tom Wilson and I have conducted research and supervised students together who were interested in research questions on the boundaries of hazard and social science.
Building sector-wide capability
At the national level, I have been involved in efforts to set up systematic professional (leadership) development for the emergency management sector. I’m involved with Response and Recovery Aotearoa New Zealand, a consortium aimed at designing and delivering high-quality leadership development for emergency management response and recovery leaders. My role is to advise on curriculum design, course development, teaching methods, academic quality assurance, and developmental pathways.
I have also consulted with the capability development team of the National Emergency Management Agency on models for assessment and assurance of prior learning.
Developing local capability
At the University of Canterbury, I served in the Incident Management Team (IMT) for four years. This team, which was set up during the COVID-19 lockdowns, manages the university in case of a major incident or disruption. It follows a (slightly modified) Coordinated Incident Management System (CIMS) structure. CIMS is the common system used in the public sector in Aotearoa New Zealand. I served in the Academic work stream, which is responsible for advising on the impact of the incident on teaching, learning, and research at the university, and provide guidance for staff and students on matters teaching and learning. My specific role was to coordinate support for teaching staff to minimise the impact of the incident on teaching and assessment.
Besides my regular role on IMT, I worked closely with our Emergency Management and Business Continuity manager to advice on training and professional development for our IMT. At the university, like in many other organisations, IMT tasks are taken on by people that may not have had much training in emergency management, and do the role part-time in addition to their regular duties in the organisation. This means that careful thought has to be put into the training and development of an IMT, so that it can be ready to successfully lead the organisation through an incident. What we learned in the development of our IMT is directly transferable to other organisations.