Mohammad Shamsudduha ('Shams')

I am Associate Professor in Humanitarian Science at UCL Institute for Risk and Disaster Reduction (IRDR). By academic training and educational background, I am a geoscientist, deeply interested in distribution of earth’s freshwater resources, water risks and resilience, hydrometeorological and climatological hazards, and sustainable development with a special geographic focus on the Global South. Having decade-long research experience on water and climate risks, and environmental sustainability, my aim is to bridge the humanitarian-development divide as I argue that protracted humanitarian crises and human displacement that are rapidly rising worldwide as a result of regional conflicts, natural hazards, and climate change cannot be solved with short-term humanitarian interventions but fundamentally with sustained development solutions, social changes, and global cooperation. I strongly opine that digital data, information technology and geospatial big data can play a crucial role in the humanitarian-development nexus in addressing people’s vulnerability, reducing disaster risks and enhancing societal resilience to global change.

Using an array of geospatial, machine learning, and remote sensing tools, and earth observation satellite data, my research addresses the fundamental challenges to achieving sustainable development by studying the complex interactions of water, climate, and human development. My work promotes building community resilience to climate change and seeks to increase accessibility and reduce water inequality, especially in the Asian megadeltas and Sub-Saharan Africa. I apply my research on water resources as a diplomatic tool to address transboundary hydropolitical conflicts and humanitarian crises that are on the rise in the face global climate crisis.