29 August 2026
UNSW experts available on the Nepal-Tibet flood crisis
As the death toll rises from the Nepal-Tibet floods, time is critical in the search for survivors. UNSW experts are available for comment on the key aspects of the crisis.
Professor David Sanderson from the UNSW How We Survive Institute is an expert in emergency housing support for disadvantaged communities displaced by natural disasters; urban disaster resilience and humanitarian aid; geo-political conflicts; socio-economic exclusion and environmental factors. Contact: 0424 871 966.
Professor Krishna Shrestha from the UNSW School of Social Sciences is an expert in environmental justice and food security, particularly in relation to Nepal, India and the Himalayas. His research areas cover disaster resilience and climate change adaptation. Contact: 0413 151 111 .
Sanjula Weerasinghe is a Senior Research and Policy Associate at the Evacuations Research Hub, Kaldor Centre for International Refugee Law, UNSW Sydney. Her work focuses on evacuations, relocation and solutions to displacement, with a particular emphasis on ensuring that research insights inform and shape international policy and practice. Contact: Lauren Martin 0407 393 070.
Dr Regina Jefferies is a lawyer and Laureate Postdoctoral Fellow at the Kaldor Centre for International Refugee Law, ARC Laureate Evacuations Research Hub at the University of New South Wales. Her current work as part of the ARC Laureate Evacuations Research Hub critically explores international law in relation to the concept of 'evacuations' in a variety of transboundary contexts, including disasters, climate change, conflict, and emergencies. Contact: Lauren Martin 0407 393 070.
Dr Thomas Mulder is Laureate postdoctoral fellow at the UNSW Kaldor Centre's Evacuations Research Hub. He specialises in public international law, particularly in how international law can contribute to the protection of persons and human rights in the event of disasters. Contact: Lauren Martin 0407 393 070.
Professor Jane McAdam is Scientia Professor of Law and an Australian Research Council Laureate Fellow. She was the Founding Director of the Kaldor Centre for International Refugee Law at UNSW Sydney where she now leads the Laureate Evacuations Research Hub. Her prestigious Australian Research Council Laureate Fellowship examines the legal underpinnings and practical challenges of evacuations across a range of contexts, including conflict, disasters and other humanitarian crises. Her legal analysis of both refugee law and climate-related displacement has been adopted by courts, governments and UN bodies. Contact: Lauren Martin 0407 393 070.
Conjoint Professor Paul Middleton is a senior specialist in prehospital and emergency medicine, and has worked as part of prehospital trauma and helicopter critical care retrieval teams in both the UK and Australia. He is the Director of the South Western Emergency Research Institute (SWERI) and Senior Staff Specialist in Emergency Medicine at Liverpool Hospital. Contact: 0439 995 251
For further information on these experts or others at UNSW, please contact:
UNSW Media - Larissa Chinwah, +61 452 229 349 or [email protected].