The 2022 floods devastated communities in southeast Queensland and northern New South Wales and pushed emergency services to their limits.
Thousands of homes have been inundated by floodwaters, lives have been lost and people are struggling to comprehend the enormity of the latest weather emergency.
The "rain bomb" responsible for last weekend's record-breaking rain has move off and for some, the focus turns to the clean-up and the physical and emotional damage of such a catastrophic event.
The University of Queensland has a range of experts available to offer comment on this crisis and its aftermath.
Dr Margaret Cook
Dr Cook has a particular interest in floods and other disasters, as well as Australian water policies. She is the author of "A River with a City Problem: A History of Brisbane Floods", UQP, 2019, as well many journal articles.
Contact: Dr Margaret Cook, Honorary Research Fellow, School of Historical and Philosophical Inquiry, Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, m.cook@uq.edu.au, +61 (0) 418 753 546.
Professor Hubert Chanson
Hubert Chanson is a Professor of Civil Engineering with expertise in floods and engineering, metrology, sewers, and dams.
Contact: Professor Hubert Chanson, School of Civil Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Architecture and Information Technology, h.chanson@uq.edu.au, +61 (7) 3365 3516.
Dr Annie Lau
Dr Lau is a geographer and can provide expertise on extreme weather events.
Contact: Dr Annie Lau, Lecturer in Geography, School of Earth and Environmental Sciences, Faculty of Science, annie.lau@uq.edu.au, +61 (0) 478 675 199.
Associate Professor Nicole George
Dr George was personally affected by the 2011 floods and completed a study on the community responses to the disaster. She has some interesting and useful suggestions about how to help those impacted by flooding.
Contact: Associated Professor Nicole George, School of Political Science and International Studies, Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, n.george2@uq.edu.au, +61 (0) 411097916.
Associate Professor Simon Reid
Dr Reid is a public health expert and can provide commentary on why it's a bad idea to walk in flood water/the health risks of walking in flood water.
Contact: Associate Professor Simon Reid, Global Disease Control, School of Public Health, Faculty of Medicine, simon.reid@uq.edu.au, +61 (0) 405 557 594.
Dr Katrina Moss
Dr Moss is a Postdoctoral Research Fellow in Public Health with a particular interest in the impact of flood stress on pregnancy. Her research team studied the development of children who were in utero in the 2011 Queensland Floods and found that pregnant mothers who experienced higher flood-related stress had more depression, anxiety and post-traumatic distress.
Contact: Dr Katrina Moss, School of Public Health, Faculty of Medicine, katrina.moss@uq.edu.au, +61 (0) 475 042 318.
Dr Paola Leardini
Dr Leardini can provide expertise in water sensitive urban design and climate and flood resilience design. She is currently researching future design of residential housing in SE Queensland to withstand flooding.
Contact: Dr Paola Leardini, Senior Lecturer in Architecture, School of Architecture, Faculty of Engineering, Architecture and Information Technology, p.leardini@uq.edu.au, +61 (0) 426 041 867.
Professor John Quiggin
Professor Quiggin is prominent both as a research economist and as a commentator on Australian economic policy and can provide expert comment on the economic impact of the flooding.
Contact: Professor John Quiggin, Professor School of Economics, j.quiggin@uq.edu.au, +61 (0) 400 747 165.
Associate Professor Fiona Charlson
Dr Charlson is a Principal Research Fellow and Mental health in shock events and vulnerable communities Research Team Lead, Queensland Centre for Mental Health Research. She can provide expertise on the mental health impact of the flooding.
Contact: Associate Professor Fiona Charlson, School of Public Health, Faculty of Medicine, f.charlson@uq.edu.au, +61 (0) 402 556 657.
Professor Vanessa Cobham
Professor Cobham can provide expertise on helping children cope with the trauma of flooding. She has published a paper on the psychological interventions for children experiencing PTSD after exposure to a natural disaster.
Contact: Professor Vanessa Cobham, School of Psychology, Faculty of Health and Behavioural Sciences, vanessa@psy.uq.edu.au, +61 (0) 403 083 193.
Emeritus Professor Justin Kenardy
Emeritus Professor Kenardy was involved in addressing the needs of the Grantham community after the 2011 floods. He can offer expertise on the different ways that people respond to traumatic events, including discussing post-traumatic stress disorder, anxiety and psychological injury relating to disasters.
Contact: Emeritus Professor Justin Kenardy, School of Psychology, Faculty of Health and Behavioural Sciences, j.kenardy@uq.edu.au, +61 (0) 413 807 163.
Professor Alex Haslam
Professor Haslam can offer expertise about the psychological resilience of communities in a crisis and the importance of leadership in helping people to deal with trauma. “The sense of shared identity that emerges in the context of events like these is a key resource that helps people manage the process effectively and that is a source of resilience down the track.”
Contact: Professor Alex Haslam, UQ Laureate Fellow, School of Psychology, a.haslam@uq.edu.au, +61 (0) 468 547 291.
Professor Paula Jarzabkowski
Professor Jarzabkowski is an expert in global disaster recovery and insurance protection. Her focus is on financial protection and resilience to disaster. "This flooding has exposed something we already knew but had chosen to ignore. That Australia, one of the most prone countries to secondary disasters from climate change like floods and bushfires, is also one of the most under-insured of comparable economies.”
Contact: Professor Paula Jarzabkowski, School of Business, Faculty of Business, Economics and Law, p.jarzabkowski@uq.edu.au, +61 (0) 458 523 602.
Associate Professor Judith Mair
Dr Mair's research focuses on recovery for tourism destinations hit by crises and disasters. She believes the key to recovery lies in carefully managed media communications and tailored marketing messages to help destinations reopen and return to normal, but only when the community is ready. “The widespread flooding in south-east Queensland and Northern NSW has damaged tourist accommodation and infrastructure, and closed visitor attractions and beaches – all the things that tourists visit these regions to enjoy.”
Contact: Associate Professor Judith Mair, School of Business, Faculty of Business, Economics and Law, j.mair@business.uq.edu.au, +61 (0)412 057 758.
Associate Professor Gabby Walters
Dr Walters is an expert in crisis management in the tourism industry. She conducted research on how tourists responded to the 2011 floods in Queensland, reputational impacts and tourism recovery strategies. Gabby has also worked with government on tourism and reputation recovery campaigns after bushfires and other natural disasters. She has background in tourism marketing with an emphasis on consumer psychology, as well as image and reputation management and tourism market recovery following crises and disasters.
Contact: Professor Gabby Walters, School of Business, Faculty of Business, Economics and Law, g.walters@uq.edu.au, +61 (0) 402 085 497.
Professor Shaun Bond
Professor Bond is an expert in real estate finance and financial economics, who can discuss how the floods may influence the short and long-term impact on the housing market values. Shaun is currently researching Resilient Regions: Commercial Real Estate Markets and Natural Disasters.
Contact: Professor Shaun Bond, Frank Finn Chair and Finance DL, School of Business, Faculty of Business, Economics and Law, s.bond@business.uq.edu.au, +61 (0) 422 072 895.
Professor Alicia Rambaldi
Professor Rambaldi is an economics expert who has conducted extensive research in conjunction with CSIRO on the impact of the 2011 floods to the economy and housing market. Her most recent work in a decade long project studies how the housing market responds to irregular flood events. “Theory indicates when the event occurs (here the 2011 flood), the market over-reacts and prices fall below what would be their risk-adjusted price. However, this is short-lived and discount due to flooding diminishes over time and essentially disappears. Our research proposes an econometric method to measure and relate the quality-adjusted price of properties located in the flood-free zone to the quality-adjusted price of properties exposed to flooding.”
Contact: Professor Alicia Rambaldi, School of Economics, Faculty of Business, Economics and Law, a.rambaldi@uq.edu.au, +61 7 336 56576.
Dr Sarel Gronum
Dr Gronum is an expert in innovation, entrepreneurship, and small to medium business growth and disruption innovation. He can discuss how floods may affect small to medium businesses, how to build resilience and recovery strategies.
Contact: Dr Sarel Gronum, School of Business, Faculty of Business, Economics and Law, s.gronum@business.uq.edu.au, +61 (0) 402 324 617.
Cameron Turner
Cameron is the Business School’s entrepreneur-in-residence who is a startup, entrepreneurship and innovation expert. Cameron also has a long history of commercialisation in agribusiness and can discuss the impact of the flooding on agricultural-dependant businesses and resilience strategies.
Contact: Cameron Turner, Entrepreneur in Residence, School of Business, Faculty of Business, Economics and Law, cameront@uq.edu.au, +61 (0) 437 448 773.
Dr Renee Zahnow
Dr Renee Zahnow has extensive experience in the area of community resilience and recovery from natural disasters. She conducted research on changes in social ties, community functioning, crime and individual wellbeing across communities following the 2011 Brisbane flood event and continues to publish on this topic of research.
Contact: Dr Renee Zahnow, Senior Research Fellow (ARC DECRA) School of Social Science, University of Queensland, r.zahnow@uq.edu.au, +61 (0) 402204381.
Media: UQ Communications, communications@uq.edu.au, +61 (0)429 056 139.
