Susan L. Cutter, co-chair of IRDR AIRDR and DATA projects and contributor to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) was appointed with honorary doctorate degree at Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU) last 20 March.

Professor Cutter is influential in international research on climate and vulnerability, prevention of natural disasters and the use of geographic information systems in the evaluation and reconstruction after extreme natural events.

Prior to the appointment, Dr. Cutter held a lecture entitled “Geographical Reflections on Hazards, Vulnerability, and Environmental Justice” at NTNU Dragvoll Auditorium last 19 March.

Dr. Cutter is the Director of Hazards and Vulnerability Research Institute at the University of South Carolina, USA, an IRDR International Centre of Excellence in Vulnerability and Resilience Metrics (IRDR ICoE-VaRM). Many of her works are part of educational institutions curriculum worldwide.

In 2014, the book “Hurricane Katrina and the Forgotten Coast of Mississippi,” where Cutter was one of the contributors, was released.

She served as an advisor in several international research projects at the Department of Geography, NTNU. Norwegian University of Science and Technology (Norges teknisk-naturvitenskapelige universitet, abbreviated NTNU) is a public research university located in the city of Trondheim, Norway. NTNU is the second largest of the eight universities in Norway, and, has the main national responsibility for higher education in engineering and technology.