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Our commitment to interdisciplinary education and inclusive pedagogy has been recognised through multiple awards and accolades across UCL and the MAPS Faculty.
Go straight to: Staff Success Stories | Student Highlights | PhD Updates
Education Excellence
Our Staff
Staff across professional services, research and teaching all contribute to creating a positive environment for our students to thrive.
Higher Education Authority (HEA) Recognition
Congratulations to the RDR academics who achieved Higher Education Authority recognition in 2023-24.
- Senior Fellows of the Higher Education Academy (SFHEA)
- Professor Mohammad Shamsudduha (Shams)
- Dr Punam Yadav
- Dr Sonja Ayeb-Karlsson
- Fellows of the Higher Education Academy (FHEA)
- Dr Yulia Ioffe
- Dr Bayes Ahmed
Staff Promotions
We have had great success with promotions this year, congratulations to the following staff who were promoted for the start of the 2024-25 academic year.
- Professors
- Dr Mohammad Shamsudduha (Shams) has been promoted to Professor of Water Crisis and Risk Reduction
- Associate Professors
- Dr Estella Carpi is promoted to Associate Professor
- Dr Roberto Gentile is promoted to Associate Professor
- Dr Dan Haines is promoted to Associate Professor
- Dr Yulia Ioffe is promoted to Associate Professor
- Dr Ting Sun is promoted to Associate Professor
- Dr Lisa Guppy is promoted to Associate Professor (Teaching)
- Dr Yasmine Sabri is promoted to Associate Professor (Teaching)
Staff Awards and Recognition
- Mumtaz Abdul Ghafoor, Senior Teaching and Learning Administrator, was nominated for the Inclusive Practice Award - Staff (Individual or Team) at the Widening Participation and Student Success Community of Practice Awards 2023-24. This award recognises staff members who have gone above and beyond by creating, facilitating, or supporting a project or environment that encourages inclusivity for our most underrepresented young people.
- Jose Delgado, Education Administrator, and Caroline Russell (Caz), Associate Lecturer (teaching) Risk, Disasters and Humanitarianism, won the MAPS Faculty Education Awards for Individual Excellence, and Dr Lisa Guppy, Associate Professor (teaching) in Global Humanitarian Studies, won the Highly Commended Award.
- Franka Pues, Postgraduate Teaching Assistant for International Legal Framework for Humanitarian Action (IRDR0034), was nominated for the UCL Provost’s Education Awards.
- Congratulations to Dr Gianluca Pescaroli, Dr Louisa Acciari, and Dr Thaisa Comelli who each won a MAPS Faculty ECR (early career researcher) Forum Awards 2024. Gianluca and Thaisa for Research Excellence and Louisa for Equality, Diversity and Inclusion.
- Nidhi Rathod won the ‘Valuing our staff and improving the overall staff experience’ BEAMS professional Services Staff Award.
Student Success Stories
This year marked a significant milestone with the graduation of our first cohort of Global Humanitarian Studies BSc students and the 10th cohort of Risk, Disaster and Resilience MSc students. We also launched the UCL RDR Student blog to showcase student research and perspectives.
- Student Highlights
- Hackathon Win: Undergraduates Jasmine Andean and Melanie Larre developed solutions for flood displacement with the IOM Displacement Tracking Matrix
- MSc Recognition: Racha Doumit won the UCL MAPS Innovation & Enterprise Competition with her project on Beirut blast risk management
- Industry Recognition: Two students from UCL – Iman Chaudhry (BSc) and Pauliina Vesaluoma (Master's graduate) – were shortlisted in the CIR Awards newcomer of the year 2024
- MAPS #GoBeyond Awards: Miriam Zallocco (Global Humanitarian Studies) was recognized for excellence in extra-curricular activities
- International Contributions: Amy (Jinhee) Chang successfully joined the World Federation of United Nations Associations programme at UN Headquarters
- Policy Impact: Undergraduates Evie Lunn and Kaily Pham worked with Professor Shamsudduha to create a report for CUAMM that was presented at high-level events in Rome
- COP28 Engagement: Undergraduate Jasmine Andean contributed to a publication launched at COP28 during her summer internship at the International Coalition for Sustainable Infrastructure
PhD Updates
New PhD Students
PhD Completions
- Naif Alrehail (May 2024) – Assessing the Emergency Planning Requirements for Responding to Flash Floods in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia
- Rhea Leung (May 2024) – Mitigation and Disaster Preparedness Measures Enacted in Remote Mountainous Areas Affected by Earthquake-Triggered Geohazards
- Myles Harris (December 2023) – Prolonged Field Care Theory: Prehospital Health for Disaster Risk Reduction in Remote Environments and Outer Space