Award for child-centred disaster risk reduction PhD

CRC PhD student Dr Mayeda Rashid has been awarded the 2020 Paul Andersen FAPEx Research Prize from CQUniversity for her PhD research into the achievements and challenges of child-centred disaster risk reduction.

The Research Prize is awarded to the Research Higher Degree student who achieves the highest result for their thesis in the academic year, and brings with it a prize of $1,000.

Dr Rashid was grateful for the support of the CRC’s education program during her PhD.

“The Bushfire and Natural Hazards CRC supported me with training and resources, end-user and industry partnerships, access to conferences and research seminars, opportunities to meet other academics and researchers, and opportunities to showcase my research at various national and international platforms,” Dr Rashid said.

“In the future, I want to do more research on access, inclusion and diversity within disaster risk reduction, including the participation of children and youth.”

CRC Research Director Dr John Bates congratulated Dr Rashid on her achievement.

“The Paul Andersen FAPEx Research Prize highlights the value of Mayeda’s research and recognises the efforts she has made over many years. Congratulations Mayeda on this well-deserved award,” Dr Bates said.

Completing her PhD with CQUniversity in October 2020, Dr Rashid is now working at DPV Health as a Partnerships Coordinator for the Victorian Government’s Community Activation and Social Isolation program. Her PhD investigated disaster risk reduction education for children in Bangladesh by involving children’s active input and participation. By bringing children on board as co-researchers, her study provides a framework for engaging children in research on disasters, encouraging future researchers to empower children as co-researchers and foster their genuine participation in research.

Dr Rashid’s thesis was ranked in the top 10 per cent globally in her field. As a result, she has also been recognised as a Global Talent by the Department of Home Affairs under the Global Talent Independent program. She has presented her research findings at the CRC’s Research Forum in 2018, as well as a Three Minute Thesis at Research Driving Change – Showcase 2017. She has also authored a chapter about child-centred disaster risk reduction in the book Education in Times of Environmental Crisis: Teaching Children to be Agents of Change, published in 2016.