Menu

Wananga landing
Wananga landing
Topic

Wildfire evacuation perspective on urban planning

15 August 2023

Host Faculty: Engineering

General Subject Area: Civil and Natural Resources Engineering

Project Level: PhD

HOW TO APPLY

Wildfires are a growing threat to communities around the world, given the recent increase of intensity, frequency, and social harm. This is not an exception for New Zealand, which is shown by recent large wildfires, e.g., the Nelson fires of 2019. Furthermore, urban development and the growing population in New Zealand are responsible for the expansion of the wildland-urban interface (WUI), which are the most vulnerable areas in case of wildfire. To mitigate the risk of WUI fires, it is paramount that the planning of new urban areas considers evacuation in case of fire. However, the understanding of how new urban areas should be planned in the New Zealand context to facilitate wildfire evacuation is scarce.

 

This PhD research aims to assess if and to what extent different urban planning stakeholders consider wildfire evacuation in the New Zealand context. In the research, groups of stakeholders will be asked to plan an urban area in a tabletop exercise. You will observe the tabletop exercises and determine the level of consideration of wildfire evacuation in the planning process. Starting from this assessment of the status quo, you will design and implement a multi-year training program for the stakeholders (e.g., no training, lecture based training and immersive VR training) and monitor the impact of training on the planning process in subsequent tabletop exercises. The objective is to determine the impact and retention of the training outcomes. The subject area for this PhD is Civil Engineering (ENCI). The candidate will be part of a much larger team.

 
How do you apply?

If this sounds interesting to you, email Daniel Nilsson at daniel.nilsson@canterbury.ac.nz with the subject line: Wildfire Evacuation PhD. Please note that you need to use the correct subject line and support your application with:

  • Application letter (approx. 1 page) highlighting your experience and explaining why you’re interested in the research.
  • Your Resume/CV
  • Relevant Academic Transcripts
 
Supervisors

Supervisors: Daniel NilssonRuggiero Lovreglio

 
Key qualifications and skills

Required qualifications:

  • Enrolment requires completion of a research-focused honours or master’s degree in a relevant topic area, which may include Civil engineering, Fire engineering (evacuation focused), Urban planning, etc. More information about requirements can be found here.

Ideally (but not required) have:

  • Research experience in the area of urban planning, risk mitigation (e.g. wildfire) or emergency evacuation (e.g. building fire, wildfire, tsunami, etc),
  • Authorship/co-authorship of peer-reviewed scientific publications in a relevant area,
  • Experience of presenting research to experts and laypersons, and
  • Experience of performing interviews or focus group sessions.
 
Does the project come with funding

The scholarship, which is 30 000 NZD plus fees and student levy, is funded by the MBIE endeavour project "Extreme wildfire: Our new reality - are we ready?"

 
Final date for receiving applications

Ongoing, but review of applicants will commence on 13 Feb 2023.

 
Keywords

wildfire, wildland fire, wildland urban interface (WUI), evacuation, human behaviour in fire, urban planning

Privacy Preferences

By clicking "Accept All Cookies", you agree to the storing of cookies on your device to enhance site navigation, analyse site usage, and assist in our marketing efforts.