Humanitarian, Disaster and Emergency Management

Yvonne always planned to go to university, but young motherhood put her plans on pause – at least for a decade or two. Starting her first degree in her late 30s didn't slow her learning down in the slightest. In fact, Yvonne turned two very different degrees into a whole new career. 

While spending her early career as a research assistant studying malaria at the Eijkman Institute for Molecular Biology (EIMB) in Jakarta, Nadia became aware of the work being done by our own Menzies School of Health Research on the disease.

Mohammad dreams of developing disaster-resilient communities in Indonesia, so  he began his search for a Higher Degree by Research and was granted an Australia Awards Scholarship. His research could make a big impact on small islands threatened by a host of natural disasters.

With a growing need for specialists in humanitarian aid, but faced with COVID-19 border closures, Mujiburrahman made the tough decision to leave his family at home in Indonesia to return to Australia and finish his PhD in humanitarian, emergency and disaster management. 

After a challenging childhood in the Philippines, Lloyd wanted to dedicate his life to helping people in need. He found a way to do that through a degree in humanitarian aid at CDU. 

Meet the emergency services veteran who, at 80, went to university to consolidate a lifetime of on-the-job learning and help shape the future direction of emergency management. 

We have all seen the images of war on our television screens. What happens when, inevitably, the guns fall silent and the blades are returned to their sheaths? When the red mist recedes, and some form of non-violent rationality raises its weary head above the bloodied parapets.

In her final year of a Bachelor of Humanitarian and Community Studies, Stephanie completed a student placement with the Red Cross in Timor-Leste. She reflects on the placement – and dissects why it was such a formative personal, professional, and academic experience.

As the humanitarian aid and disaster management sector evolves, keeping up with best practice and new ways of responding to crises has never been more important. That’s exactly why Emma Kettle chose to return to uni to take on a postgraduate degree in Humanitarian, Disaster and Emergency Management.