REDUCE RISK - BUILD RESILIENCE - ENSURE RECOVERY
Founded in 2001 BUDMC provides world class training and technical assistance in disaster management in order to help reduce risks, build resilience and ensure rapid and sustainable recovery when disasters strike. The team have years of experience working in the UK and Overseas assisting governments, ministries, NGOs and multi-national organisations with disaster and crisis preparedness, response and recovery.
We pride ourselves on the practical, applicable nature of research, consultancy, education and training that we delivers. Utilising a fused approach of professional practice informed research and education and research informed progessional practice BUDMC is at the cutting edge of disaster management research and application.
Richard Gordon
Centre Director
Richard provides disaster management expertise, project management and training to government ministries, national security forces, media, industry, emergency services and non-governmental organisations.
His work covers the full spectrum of disaster management including planning, command and control systems, risk assessment, early warning, risk reduction, and communication and situational awareness.
Professor Lee Miles
Professor Crisis & Disaster Management
Lee’s research and training expertise lies in International Crisis and Disaster Management, Foreign Policy Analysis (FPA) and European Union Crisis Management.
His research examines the role of political and policy entrepreneurs in shaping foreign policy management, regional crisis diplomacy and emergency responses to crises and disasters in the age of resilience.
Lucy Green
Centre Manager
Lucy is responsible for managing BUDMC commercial contracts and research projects, including financial management budgeting and spend across our UK and overseas activities.
She contributes to professional practice outputs including working on deliverables for clients such as the World Bank, BAE Systems and the UK FCDO.
She oversees bidding activity on behalf of the Centre working closely with the University's Legal Department and Research and Development Office.
Dr Henry Bang
Research Fellow
Henry is a scholar and disaster management professional with substantial teaching and research experience in the higher education and enterprise sectors both in Africa and in the UK.
He has published extensively in high-ranking peer review international journals and contributed to major volumes in areas of Disaster Management. His book “30 Years After the Lake Nyos Disaster: What Prospects for Rehabilitation and Reintegration in the Region? Disaster Management, Social Vulnerability, Risk Perception and Relocation Decisions in Cameroon” was published in late 2016.
Dr Christopher Baker-Beall
Senior Lecturer
Chris joined BUDMC in 2019 as Senior Lecturer in Crisis and Disaster Management. Chris is a distinguished scholar who has published work widely in the field of International Relations, Terrorism Studies and Crisis and Disaster Management.
He is Programme Leader for the MSc in Disaster Management and is unit leader for three units on the programme: Management of Manmade Disasters & Security Threats, Foreign Policy Analysis & Crisis Management and the Dissertation Project.
Dr Karen Reddin
Senior Lecturer
Karen joined BU in 2019 as a Senior Lecturer in Disaster Management after a career of more than 20 years in Public Health, firstly in public health research and then in emergency preparedness, resilience and response.
Karen is currently researching into Immersive Environments for Disaster Management. This involves a review of current Disaster Management education, training and exercise methodologies and recognised practice and how technology enhanced learning platforms might be used.
Jamie Martin
Associate Lecturer
Jamie Martin is an Associate Lecturer with Bournemouth University Disaster Management Centre. Prior to this he served thirty-three years in the British Army, rising to the rank of Colonel. Jamie’s appointments included operational, policy, planning and training as well as a three-year tour in Strategic Communications within the UK Ministry of Defence.
His particular area of expertise lies in the design, scenario scripting and delivery of disaster management training exercises. Recent exercises that he has delivered with BUDMC have been held in the UK, Oman and Sierra Leone.
Dr Meera Patel
Researcher
Since completing a PhD in 2019, entitled ‘Democracy Promotion in Reverse? An Evaluation of the UK and the US’s Democracy Promotion Programmes (2005-2017)’, Meera has worked at BUDMC as a Post-Doctoral Researcher on a project in Sierra Leone, publishing a Facilitator’s Guide to Disaster Management. She is currently a Researcher on a project investigating Immersive Environments for Disaster Management, looking into the use of technology in emergency preparedness.
Dr Carina Fearnley
Associate Lecturer
Carina is Associate Professor of Science and Technology Studies at University College London and founder and director of the UCL Warning Research Centre. She is an interdisciplinary researcher, drawing on relevant expertise in the social sciences on scientific uncertainty, risk, and complexity to focus on how natural hazard early warning systems can be made more effective, specifically alert level systems. She also has interest in the transdisciplinary potential of art and science collaborations around environmental hazards. Carina established the World Organisation of Volcano Observatories Volcano Alert Level Working Group, and edited the first publication dedicated to Volcanic Crisis Communication (Observing the Volcano World: Volcanic Crisis Communication). Carina studied Geology and Mining at Imperial College London prior to working in London City’s financial sector. She completed her PhD at the UCL Hazard Research Centre before lecturing at Aberystwyth University. Carina frequently appears on national and international media following significant hazard events.
Robert McAlister
Associate Lecturer
Robert’s portfolio of work includes specialist advise and training in Crisis Management, Hostile Environment Awareness and the training and development of Rapid Deployment Teams in support of UK government. These teams have since successfully deployed to crisis zones in Libya, Gaza, Syria and Tunisia.
He is a member of the Editorial Advisory Panel for Crisis Response Journal specialising in current international crisis and disaster management topics. He has published articles on Austerity Measures and Crisis Response, Sierra Leone Flood and Ebola Response and Working in Hostile Environments. Robert is a CIPD Qualified Trainer and Associate Member.
Larry Hollingworth
Honorary Doctorate
Larry Hollingworth has made an outstanding contribution to the field of emergency relief. As a Head of Office for the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees in a number of countries, his leadership has provided help to countless men, women and children displaced from their homes due to war and natural disaster.
Today, Larry draws on his experiences to educate others as Director of Humanitarian Programs at the Center for International Humanitarian Co-operation, at Fordham University in New York and as an Associate at BUDMC. In 2019 he was awarded an Honorary Doctorate by Bournemouth University for his outstanding contribution to humanitarian operations and education in the field of disaster management.
Martin Travers
Associate Lecturer
Martin Travers is an associate lecturer at the BUDMC. His specialisms include security sector reform, disaster risk management (DRM), disaster risk governance and international development. He has a Masters degree in Defence Studies from King’s College, London.
Martin enjoyed a 35-year career as a British Army infantry officer gaining a vast array of operational experience, including Northern Ireland, Bosnia Herzegovina, Iraq and Afghanistan. Military postings and exercises included deployments to Canada, Germany, Kenya, New Zealand, Norway and Sierra Leone. He commanded the Ministry of Defence’s Reinforcements Training Mobilisation and Centre (RTMC) preparing military personnel and civil servants for operational service abroad.
Martin has notable recent expertise in Africa and African disaster risk management. He is a former Director of a security sector military academy (serving 10 West African countries) and advisor to the Commander of Sierra Leone’s Joint Force. Following retirement from the military (2020), Martin assumed the role as strategic advisor to the Mayor of Freetown, Sierra Leone, providing leadership, governance and programme support to Freetown City Council (FCC). In particular, he spearheaded the design/implementation of the City’s COVID 19 response plan, the creation of Sierra Leone’s first sub-national Disaster Risk Management (DRM) unit and oversaw the review, reorganisation and expansion of the City’s Municipal Police Force.
Martin has also contributed to numerous research projects of the BUDMC. In 2020, he was a co-author of the FCC Facilitators Guide to Disaster Management, and co-organised important policy and training workshops for the Driving African Capacity-Building in Disaster Management(AFRICAB project. In 2022, he is a research facilitator on the Research England (RE) funded Evaluating Local Disaster Management in Sierra Leone (EVALDIS) that is evaluating local and regional capacity-building in Sierra Leone.