Jonathan Raikes is a human geographer originally from Canada. He has eight years of experience in academia and public service with a focus on emergency management, disaster risk reduction, climate adaptation, and sustainable development. Jonathan completed his PhD in 2022 in the Sustainability Research Centre of the University of the Sunshine Coast, where he spent four years exploring the intersection between disaster risk reduction and sustainable human development in public policy and administration.

Prior to pursuing his PhD, Jonathan worked for the United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNDRR) in Geneva, Switzerland. Jonathan assisted the organization’s Coordination Unit in development and roll-out of the system-wide UN Plan of Action on Disaster Risk Reduction for Resilience, as well as developing materials relating to the 2015-16 El Niño impacts and responses, the Climate Risk and Early Warning Systems Initiative, and the Words Into Action (WIA) project. After leaving UNDRR, Jonathan continued to consult with international organizations, governments, academics, and other stakeholders on disaster risk reduction and climate risk management activities.

Jonathan currently works for the Government of Canada as a senior policy analyst.

For more information, visit Jonathan’s profile on Research Gate and LinkedIn.