Professor, Disaster Risk Reduction and Management, University of Huddersfield
Dilanthi Amaratunga a leading international expert in disaster resilience with an extensive academic career. She has a PhD in Construction Management (UK), a BSc (Hons) with a First Class from Sri Lanka, a Fellow of the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS), a Fellow of The Royal Geographical Society, and a Fellow and a Chartered Manager of the Chartered Management Institute, UK.
Dilanthi’s research focuses on preparedness for disaster response, recovery and reconstruction, early warning and communication, disaster resilience cities, and built environment dimensions of climate change and sustainability. Dilanthi is recognised for her career-long impact up until 2023 and is placed among the global top 2% of influential scientists, according to the report of “Composite Citation Metrics” by Elsevier BV Netherlands and Stanford University, USA. In 2019, she won the prestigious Newton Prize which recognises the best research and innovation projects which create an impact socially and economically, between Indonesia and the UK from 2016 to 2019. Since 2024, she has successfully completed 34 international research projects, over £ 20 million, having received funding from 20 funding agencies, and in partnership with 323 research partners in 67 countries, generating significant research outputs and outcomes. Her publications and external activities testify to the internationally recognised quality of her work. To date, she has produced over 500 publications and has made over 125 keynote speeches in around 40 countries. She provides expert advice on disaster resilience to national and local governments and international agencies including the United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNDRR). She is a member of the European Commission and UNDRR’s European Science & Technology Advisory Group, one of two representatives from the UK, a member of the UNDRR Expert Group on Principles for Resilient Infrastructure, Member of the UNDRR Making Cities Resilient 2030 (MCR2030) Regional Coordination Committee for Europe, a formally appointed Expert member of the ICG/IOTWMS WG-1 on Tsunami Risk, Community Awareness & Preparedness, and an expert member of the UN Women’s , “Women’s Resilience to Disasters programme”. She is a keen PhD supervisor and has now supervised to completion 48 PhD students, and currently supervises 11 and co-supervises 8 PhD students.