Team Rika
Co-Founders
Dr. Rajib Shaw
Rajib Shaw is the professor in the Graduate School of Media and Governance in Keio University in Japan. Earlier, he was the Executive Director of the Integrated Research on Disaster Risk (IRDR), a decade-long research program co-sponsored by the International Council for Science (ICSU). Previously, he served as a Professor in the Graduate School of Global Environmental Studies of Kyoto University. His expertise includes disaster governance, community-based disaster risk management, climate change adaptation, urban risk management, and disaster and environmental education. He is the Chair of the United Nations Science Technology Advisory Group (STAG) for disaster risk reduction. Professor Shaw has published more than 45 books and over 300 academic papers and book chapters. More about me @ www.rajibshaw.org.He is also developing an interest in photography.
Dr. Ranit Chatterjee
Ranit Chatterjee is a PhD in Environmental Management from Kyoto University, Japan. Trained as an Architect, Ranit did his masters in Disaster Management from Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Mumbai. His work focuses mainly on disaster management while spanning across architecture and heritage, governance, private sector and ecosystem services. He has worked previously with the UN agencies, national and local Governments in Asia and India in particular, local communities, private businesses and NGOs. In addition, he has been involved with National Institute of Disaster Management in training of engineers and architects. Ranit is a recipient of IRDR young scientist fellowship and CEM member of IUCN. He has authored several academic publications and reports on the topic of Disaster Management. He is an amateur photographer with a few publications in National Geographic
Advisor
Dr. Rohit Jigyasu
RohitJigyasu is a conservation architect and risk management professional from India, who has recently joined ICCROM as Programme Officer at its regional centre in Sharjah. Since 2010, Rohit has been working as UNESCO Chair professor at the Institute for Disaster Mitigation of Urban Cultural Heritage at Ritsumeikan University, Kyoto, Japan. He is the elected President of ICOMOS-India since 2014 and ICOMOS International Scientific Committee on Risk Preparedness (ICORP) since 2010. Rohit has been the Elected Member of the Executive Committee of ICOMOS since 2011 and is currently serving as its Vice President for the period 2017-2020. He is also the Trustee of the Indian Historic Cities Network Foundation (IHCN-F). He has been working with several national and international organizations such as Archaeological Survey of India, Indian National Institute of Disaster Management, UNESCO, ICCROM, World Bank and Getty Conservation Institute for consultancy, research and training on Disaster Risk Management of Cultural Heritage. He has also been engaged as a visiting faculty at several national and international academic institutions in India and abroad. He is on editorial board of some well reputed journals such as Journal of Cultural Heritage Management and Sustainable Development, and Disaster Prevention and Management. He has contributed to several international publications.
Dr. Akhilesh Surjan
Dr. Akhilesh Surjan is an Associate Professor / Research & Theme Leader of Humanitarian, Emergency and Disaster Management Studies Program at the Charles Darwin University, Australia.For over two decades,he has beenproactively engaged with the issues of disaster-environment-climate risk reduction and sustainabilityin the context of human settlements. Dr.Surjan served as a Lead Authorof the Fifth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) and also as Contributing Authorof the United Nation’s Global Assessment Report on Disaster Risk Reduction. In addition to associating with esteemed universities, Dr. Surjan has also successfully workedwith the United Nations,government and non-governmentorganizations in the Asia-Pacific region. He is editorial board memberofpeer-reviewed journalsand consistently publishingin international journals, peer-reviewed books, conference proceedings, newsletters andelectronic media. He is regularly invited to lecture in global, regional and national forums, community networks and relevant research and training institutes. Dr.Surjan is also a trained architect-planner – an interest zone that keeps him enthused when free.
Dr. Izumi
Takako Izumi is an associate professor at the International Research Institute of Disaster Science (IRIDeS), Tohoku University since 2013. She also serves as Director of the Multi Hazards Program under the Association of Pacific Rim Universities (APRU), which comprises 50 universities in the region. Previously she worked for UN Habitat, UN office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNDRR), UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UNOCHA), and UN Office for the Recovery Coordinator for Ache and Nias (UNORC) after the Indian Ocean Tsunami. She is also appointed as a member of the Asia-Pacific Science, Technology and Academia Advisory Group by UNDRR.
Core Team
Ms. Sukhreet Bajwa
SukhreetBajwa is a Disaster Management Professional with 3+ years of rich experience across the government, the non-government and academia. She has her Masters in Disaster Management from Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Mumbai.Her work experiences extends from fieldwork in humanitarian assistance during conflict in Assam to research work for Special Centre for Disaster Research, JNU, Delhi and steering of governmental schemes for capacity building with the Gujarat State Disaster Management Authority, Gandhinagar. Her other interests include poetry and needlepoint canvas crafts.
Mr. Vipul Nakum
Vipul Nakum holds a degree of Masters in Disaster Management from Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS), Mumbai. He is actively involved in core disaster management planning, implementation, and review for over seven years across Indian states. He has been into roles of researcher, coordinator, consultant, educator and certified Master Trainer for School Safety. He has closely worked with government, civil society, UN organisations and academic institutes in a number of field operations and prepared and implemented disaster management plans and action plans for districts, cities, departments, religious sites, offices, hospitals, schools, etc. He has rich experience in facilitating various capacity building and training programs to a wide range of stakeholders, in diverse cultural settings across India. His hobbies include painting and photography.
Associates
Dr.Aditi Madan
Aditi has a PhD in Disaster Management from Asian Institute of Technology, Bangkok. Her doctoral thesis was on ‘Institutional Capacity Development for Flood Risk Reduction at the community level: A Case Study of Delhi, India’. Prior to her PhD, she has completed her M.A. in Disaster Management from TISS, Mumbai and B.A. in Geography from the University of Delhi. She has prior experience of working in the development sector with International organizations, some of these include Voluntary Health Association of India (Delhi), United Access Medical (Singapore), United Access Medical (Singapore), International Labour Organisation- UNESCAP (Bangkok), Asian Disaster Preparedness Center (Bangkok), Asian Center of Innovation for Sustainable Agriculture in India Yunus Centre (Bangkok), Gujarat State Disaster Management Authority (GSDMA). In addition to her association with RIKA, Aditi is also acting as the Head for Accounts and Strategy for a Digital Agency- Caught in the Web (Gurgaon), Copyeditor for Institute for Human Development (Delhi) and as Research Consultant for PINQ (Delhi).
Mr. Arnab Gazi
An Economics graduate from St.Xaviers’s College Calcutta, an MBA from Xavier Institute of Management Bhubaneswar and is also an Executive MBA from IIM Lucknow. Mr. Gazi has an extensive experience and understanding of working in the BFSI space for more than 16 years. He has been actively engaged with the task of managing a multi-million dollar strategic partnership in India and abroad. Expertise in strategy formulation, distribution creation, project management, project development and business development. His experience in the insurance sector helped him understand the important of “disaster mitigation”, “social security” and the necessity and need for “preventive disaster management”.
Ms. Ashoo Kalra
Ashoo is a law graduate with specialization in Mercantile law (Company law) from VSSD Law College, Kanpur and she is currently pursuing her Post Graduate Diploma in Disaster Management from IGNOU. Armed with a B.Ed degree, Ashoo’s career spans over twenty years in the field of school education during which she has held important academic positions at various reputed educational institutions. In addition to her professional commitment, Ashoo has acted as a catalyst to find innovative solutions for the problems associated with the day-to-day lives of the people in Varanasi. SEEDs Asia (INGO) has made her the Brand Ambassador of DRR activities in Varanasi in appreciation of her contribution towards making community and students disaster resilient as a part of the Safe School Project. She is passionate about writing and has authored a number of textbooks for children.
Mr. Lalit Kumar Deshora
Mr. Lalit is an Urban Planner by training and specialised in M. Sc. in Geo-information Science & Earth Observation for Environmental Modelling and Management through an Erasmus Mundus scholarship. His work experience in the field of DRR spans over a decade with organisations like TARU, Practical Action Consulting-South Asia, Bhaskaracharya Institute for Space Application and Geo-informatics (Science and Tech-nology Department, Government of Gujarat) and Environmental Management Unit (EMU), Roads and Buildings Department, Government of Gujarat. His experience is enriched with on-field experience in countries such as Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Denmark, India, Indonesia, Japan, Myanmar, Nepal, Norway, Poland, Singapore, Sweden, Tajikistan, Thailand, The Netherlands, United Kingdom. He is currently engaged as a DRM Specialist with ADB.
Ms. Chandra Laxmi Hada
Chandra LaxmiHada is an Architect and Urban Planner by profession. She has been working with government, private firms, UN agencies, and INGOs for 17 years. She was recently associated with DCA Nepal as an Urban Disaster Risk Reduction Advisor for “PRAGATI – Urban DRR” Project to promote resilient and sustainable urban development in urban areas of Nepal. She worked with Asian Disaster Preparedness Center, Nepal as a Project Manager and supported to carry out the baseline assessment of humanitarian actors to improve the emergency preparedness, to response and recovery from disasters in Asia. She was a Green Recovery and Reconstruction Specialist in WWF Nepal and played an important role on integrating environmentally responsible practices in recovery and reconstruction work after 2015 Earthquake. She worked with UNDP/CDRMP &supported the Nepal government in Emergency Preparedness and Response activities and Early Recovery planning in Nepal. She also led, coordinated and implemented Early Recovery and Disaster Risk Reduction Project after 2011 Earthquake. She has authored guidelines and published various articles in national and international journals and lectured at several engineering, planning and training sessions at local and international levels. She has a Master of Science in Urban Planning and a Bachelor’s Degree in Architecture both from Tribhuvan University, Nepal. She is also a graduate on Comprehensive Crisis Management Course in 2013 from Asia-Pacific Center for Security Studies (APCSS), Hawaii.
Ms. Suvendrini Kakuchi
Suvendrini Kakuchi is a Sri Lankan journalist based in Tokyo, covering development issues in Japan and Asia for several decades. Her work also focuses on disaster risk reduction topics in the Asian region and she has worked with the Asian media to develop a deeper understanding of disasters and climate change in newsrooms. Suvendrini will bring her journalism experience and communication skills to foster innovative approaches in the media that play a key role in the field of disaster management.
Dr. Indrajit Pal
Dr.Indrajit Pal presently working as Assistant Professor and Chair at Disaster Preparedness, Mitigation and Management program at Asian Institute of Technology, Thailand. Prior to joining at AIT, Dr. Pal served as faculty member at Centre for Disaster Management at Lal Bahadur Shastri National Academy of Administration, Mussoorie, India (Premier National Institute for training Indian Administrative Services Officers). Dr. Pal has done extensive work on capacity development of decision makers, risk assessment and disaster risk governance. Dr. Pal has written 5 books and more than 50 articles in international and national peer reviewed journals apart from supervising masters and doctoral research. Dr. Pal having about 16 years of experience on research and capacity development on Disaster Risk Management and Governance and Disaster Risk Science and Education.
Ms. Thinn Hlaing Oo
Graduated with Bachelor of Arts in English Major from University of Yangon, Myanmar and finished Master Degree with Environmental Studies from Kyoto University, Japan. 4 years of working experience in Myanmar Engineering Society and Myanmar Earthquake Committee and 5 years in SEEDS Asia. As a member of Myanmar Earthquake Committee, participated in research and field work related to seismic hazard in Myanmar in collaboration with International Institutions. During employment in SEEDS Asia, facilitated in the DRR awareness raising programmes for community, school children and teachers. Currently working in UNDP Myanmar Office as a DRR specialist for Building Earthquake Resilience Project and supporting government for technical inputs on the development of policy framework for DRR and Capacity building for government officials as well as community (2017-up to now).
Dr. Shobha Poudel
Shobha completed her PhD in Global Environmental Studies from Kyoto University, Japan. She has a several years of interdisciplinary research experience in climate change adaptation, vulnerability assessment, food security, community resilience and Environmental Economics. After completing her Master’s Degree in Business Studies, she worked in a commercial bank for almost three years. Besides that, she worked with private sectors and NGOs in Nepal. Currently, she is working as an Assistant Professor in Universal Engineering and Science College, Pokhara University Nepal. She is a recipient of Early Career Fellowships from Organization for Women in Science for the Developing World (OWSD), TWAS, UNESCO. She has published several research papers and book chapters as well as she voluntarily reviews scientific articles in number of reputedjournals.
Dr. Anwarul Abedin
Dr. Abedin has been working as Professorin the Department of Soil Science, Bangladesh Agricultural University, Mymensingh, Bangladesh. He is also leader ofLaboratory of Environment and Sustainable Development and Adjunct Professor at Disaster Risk Management Unit at Philippines School of Business Administration, Manila, philippine. He is a coordinator of University Networks in Bangladesh.Dr. Abedin did his PhD from Kyoto University in 2011 in environmental studies. Subsequently, he did JSPS postdoctoral research during 2011-2013 in the same university on international environment and disaster management with especial focus on soil and water quality and quantity. Dr. Abedin also worked as a visiting scholar of Northumbria University, UK under the theme of disaster management. He was a PAAR fellow in collaboration with Kyoto University, Japan and START Secretariat, USA. He is conducting fundamental and applied research on water quality and social aspect, water resources management, urban and rural linkage,CCA and DRR issues and also soil health and food security, land use change, soil fertility and arsenic pollution. Dr. Abedin is collaborating in a number of research projects funded by DFID, NERC, British Council, JICA, CARRIA, Canada, World Bank, Kurita Foundation, Japan and different National level funding bodies.
Dr. Raju Sarkar
Raju Sarkar is a Professor in Department of Civil Engineer and Architecture at the Royal University of Bhutan with research interests in Geotechnical aspects of Landslide Hazards and Earthquake Hazards, Rainfall Induced Landslides, Stabilization Methods for Landslide Mitigation, Vulnerability and Risk Assessment, Disaster Management Education. He heads the University’s Disaster Risk Reduction and Community Development Studies Centre and led a research team that retrofitted a multi-storey building in Kathmandu after the 2015 Gorkha earthquake. In Bhutan, he currently works on vulnerability and risk assessment of traditional buildings and rainfall triggered landslide within the country. He completed two (NERC and EPSRC) – GCRF funded research project as Co-I and one RAS funded research project. He has published more than 40 papers in leading international journals and conferences and has won Bhutan leadership award for his contribution to research and innovation in Bhutan. Presently he is also associated as Co-chair of Commission on Education and Outreach, International Association of Seismology and Physics of the Earth’s Interiors (IASPEI), Executive Member of Thematic Working Group – Disaster Risk Reduction, Himalayan University Council, International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (HUC-ICIMOD) and Advisory Board Member, South Asian Institute for Advanced Research and Development (SAIARD) and Adjunct Professor in Disaster Risk Management Unit, Philippine School of Business Administration, Manila, Philippines.