Jun 8, 2020
This episode is an interview with
Dr. Edris Alam, an expert in Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR) from
Bangladesh. He discusses how Bangladesh has been dealing with
pandemics, cyclones, earthquakes, landslides, etc. He shows
how the people of Bangladesh are becoming better prepared for
disasters and bringing in sustainable development despite the
challenges they face. Join us as we learn about this
important part of the world and how Dr. Alam has directed his
career to protect communities.
Be sure to check out the Study Guide
for the program! Click on the top left where it says "Pdf"
above the date! https://multi-hazards.libsyn.com/bangladeshs-disaster-risk-reduction-drr-interview-with-dr-edris-alam
Dr. Alam's
Bio
Currently, Dr. Edris Alam is working
in the United Arab Emirates, where he's interviewing from.
His specialities are Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR) and Climate
Change Adaptation (CCA). Prior to this, he was the Associate
Professor and Chairman of the Department of Geography and
Environmental Studies at the Chittagong University (CU),
Bangladesh. Dr. Alam has been active in disaster risk reduction and
climate change adaptation research since 2000. Dr Alam studied and
worked at universities in Bangladesh, the UK and Australia.
His Master's of Science thesis
entitled ‘post tropical cyclone disaster management’ in the
Department of Geography and Environment, University of Dhaka,
Bangladesh was where he started. He has another specialised Masters
Degree in Disaster Management and Sustainable Development from the
Northumbria University, UK. Additionally, Professor Alam
received his PhD in Disaster Risk Reduction in Bangladesh from the
University of New South Wales (UNSW), Australia.
Dr. Alam is an honorary Chief
Executive of Disaster Action and Development Organisation (DADO).
Professor Alam succeeded securing research funding from
Governmental Organisations (GOs), NGOs, INGOs and universities in
Bangladesh, Australia and the United Kingdom. Dr Alam worked as a
consultant with NGOs, the Government of Bangladesh, INGOs and UN
(the United Nations) agencies. He has a significant track record of
high quality research outputs by publishing in the science of
natural hazards, vulnerability and disaster management, publishing
20+ research papers in major international journals (e.g.
Disasters, Earth-Science Reviews, Natural Hazards, Progress in
Disaster Science and International Journal of
Climatology).
In 2018, Professor Alam written and
published a book entitled ‘Coping and Adaptation: Coastal
Communities with Disasters’. His Google Scholar page has stated
that Dr. Alam has had extensive citations of his work
worldwide.
Over the last nineteen years,
Professor Alam has been working on climatic hazards, early warning,
disaster risk reduction, resilient livelihoods and climate change
adaptation. His expertise is specifically in theoretical and
behavioural approaches to disaster risk reduction and sustainable
development. He gained this by working with local communities, the
Government of Bangladesh, NGOs and UN agencies, and delivering
teaching and conducting academic research on responses to climate
and disaster management. Whilst working as a lead international
consultant on climate change adaptation and disaster risk reduction
cluster of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) country
program (2017-2020) evaluation in Bangladesh, Professor Alam
identified appalling strategic gap in program document development
and implementation of agendas on climate change and disaster risk
reduction. Advocating for the mainstreaming of environment, climate
and disaster risk reduction considerations throughout all sectors
is the utmost thrust of his work.