Two upcoming webinars of the Indigenous Knowledge and Disaster Risk Reduction Project are scheduled on 15 and 18 December 2014. The webinars are supported by START – Global Change System for Analysis, Research and Training and IRDR – Integrated Research on Disaster Risk.

WEBINAR 1: VICTOR OKORIE, MONDAY, DECEMBER 15, 2014, 10 AM EDT (US EAST, Gainesville time)

Rural and Urban Dilemmas: Coping with disasters in the aftermath of 2012 flood in Nigeria

To access: http://ufifas.adobeconnect.com/r5ldo47shy7/

Biography of Speaker:

Dr. Victor Ogbonnaya Okorie holds a joint PhD in Development and Anthropology as well as a Master of Arts in Cultural Anthropology of the University of Wisconsin-Madison, USA. Dr Okorie also holds a Master of Philosophy in Agricultural Extension and Rural Sociology of the Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, Nigeria, where he teaches both undergraduate and postgraduate courses.  Dr. Okorie is an Alumnus of Brown International Advance Research Institutes of the Brown University USA, where he obtained a certificate in Human Security and Humanitarian Response. He is a fellow of the World Social Sciences (IRDR-START-ISSC ). He is a recipient of many awards including MEO Fellowship University of Wisconsin-Madison USA, Eugene Havens Research Grant University of Wisconsin-Madison USA, Vilas Research Grant University of Wisconsin-Madison USA,  and  Social Science Research Council ‘s Grant USA. Dr Okorie’s current research activities focus on pollution, plunder and disasters reduction in postcolonial West Africa’s survival and residential spaces.

WEBINAR 2: MARIE-ANGE BAUDOIN, THURSDAY, DECEMBER 18, 2014, 10 AM EDT(US EAST, Gainesville time)

Building Resilience under a Changing Climate: Lessons Learned from an evaluation of the USAID OFDA’s Disaster Risk Reduction programs

To access: http://ufifas.adobeconnect.com/r8dc94j02ih/

Biography of Speaker:

Marie-Ange Baudoin joined the African Climate & Development Initiative (ACDI – University of Cape Town, South Africa) in September 2014. As a Postdoctoral Researcher on Climate Change Adaptation in Southern Africa, she is involved in 2 research projects: “Taking Adaptation to the Ground: A Small Grants Facility for Enabling Local Level Responses to Climate Change”, funded by the Adaptation Fund and implemented by the South African National Biodiversity Institute; and “Adaptation at Scale in Semi-Arid Regions” (ASSAR), funded by CARIAA and implemented by ACDI.

Previously, Marie-Ange worked at the Consortium for Capacity Building, University of Colorado, Boulder, from 2012 to 2014. As co-P.I. in the project: “Hydro-Meteorological Disaster Risk Reduction and Climate Change: Lessons Learned for Resilient Adaptation to a Changing Climate”, she evaluated Disaster Risk Reduction programs for the U.S. Office for Foreign Disaster Assistance (OFDA) in the Horn of Africa, South and Southeast Asia and Central America.

Marie-Ange completed her PhD in Environmental Sciences at the Free University of Brussels in 2012, assessing climate vulnerability and adaptation capacity among farmer’s communities in Benin. She also holds a Master in Political Sciences and a Degree in Development Studies. Her research background, activities and personal interests focus on human development, Climate Change Adaptation (CCA) and Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR), with a specific focus on sub-Saharan Africa. Marie-Ange is also a Fellow of the Resilience Academy (UNU-EHS) and a Fellow of the World Social Science (IRDR-START-ISSC).

These webinars will also be recorded and made available to everyone after the presentations.