People
Core staff
Managerial and administrative staff and roles
![]() | Professor Peter SammondsRole: Institute Director and Head of Department I work at the interface of natural and social sciences. My research and knowledge exchange is on natural hazard risks, disasters and recovery. I have worked on earthquake mechanics, volcanoes and ice physics in the Arctic. I work on research council, British Academy and Royal Society-funded projects on Increasing Resilience to Environmental Hazards in Border Conflict Zones and Resilience Futures for the Rohingya Refugees. I have advised the UK research councils on the increasing resilience to natural hazards programme; been a member of EEFIT Earthquake Engineering Field Investigation teams, contributing to inter-disciplinary reports on disaster, taken up widely by government for policy advice; and been a Commissioner on the UCL–Lancet Commission on Migration and Health, 2017–18, whose report has been influential. I am currently the Gender and Intersectionality Ambassador for the UKRI network+ GRRIPP project led by the IRDR Centre for Gender and Disaster. |
![]() | Dr Rosanna SmithRole: Deputy Director As Deputy Director, Rosanna plays a key role in developing and implementing the strategy for the UCL Institute for Risk & Disaster Reduction (IRDR) and enabling it to achieve its objectives, operating at a high level to ensure new research, programmatic, and teaching and learning initiatives in the area of Risk and Disaster Reduction (RDR) are integrated across disciplines, faculties and departments at UCL. |
![]() | Mrs Mumtaz Abdul GhafoorRole: Senior Teaching and Learning Administrator Mumtaz is responsible for IRDR postgraduate teaching and learning academic administration, and providing teaching and learning administration guidance to the rest of the IRDR team. |
![]() | Sonia FullertonRole: Teaching and Learning Administrator, undergraduate programme Sonia is responsible for academic administration for the BSc, undergraduate student support and general queries related to the undergraduate programme. |
![]() | Nadia JacksonRole: Research Finance Manager Nadia supports all IRDR research finance including Worktribe costing for research proposals and project financial management. |
![]() ![]() | Sarah JealRole: Communications and Events Manager Sarah is responsible for developing, delivering and reviewing the institute’s student recruitment and external communications strategy, and their contingent elements, especially marketing, events, and building networks and partnerships. |
![]() | Pamila BhatiaRole: Finance and HR Administrator Pamila is responsible for IRDR departmental Finance and HR transactions, queries and other general administrative tasks relating to Finance and HR activities. |
![]() | Afsana BegumRole: Senior Operations Coordinator
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