When it comes to disaster recovery and emergency management, insight into the way scientists and those who study such fields can be immeasurably helpful. In the scientific journal, Nature, writer Nikki Forrester talks to five researchers who specialize in different areas of study from around the world.
Included in this group is global-health researcher at the University of Copenhagen and director of the Copenhagen Center for Disaster Research Emmanuel Raju, who says natural disasters go beyond nature itself. “Disasters are often seen as ‘natural’ in some way, but they occur because of vulnerabilities in society,” says Raju of his work in South Asia. “When a disaster occurs, some individuals are disproportionately affected, depending on their social status, caste, religion, gender and other social and economic characteristics.”
Medical researcher at the Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK) and director of the Collaborating Centre for Oxford University and CUHK for Disaster and Medical Humanitarian Response Emily Chan studies humanitarian medicine and the effects of extreme events on populations, and the decisions that are made around those events.
“How do response decision makers and medical workers mobilize resources to help those affected?” asks Chan. “What do affected people remember, and what do they feel emotional about? Why do researchers choose to document certain information? How do we prevent important knowledge from being carelessly left unrecorded?”
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