Transdisciplinary risk and resilience research
Welcome to the Disaster Analytics for Society Lab led by Asst. Prof. David Lallemant.
Our work is focused on modeling natural hazard risk and understanding the impact of disasters on society. We investigate the modeling and communication of uncertainty as it relates to disaster risk, and the translation of resilience science into policy.
Prof. Lallemant joined the NTU faculty from Stanford University, where he was a researcher and founder of the Stanford Urban Resilience Initiative. He holds a PhD from Stanford University (2015), master’s degree from UC Berkeley (2010) and a bachelor’s degree from MIT (2007). His academic background is in earthquake sciences and engineering, predictive modeling, geostatistics, reliability analysis and others, used to conduct novel and impactful research to promote resilient societies.
About DASL
The Disaster Analytics for Society Lab (DASL) does cutting-edge research on disaster risk, recovery, and resilience. Read what that means:
DISASTER
We work on a range of natural hazards including earthquakes, floods, volcanic eruptions, tropical storms, and more, based in Southeast Asia.
SEE MOREANALYTICS
We apply novel methods across multiple disciplines to push the boundaries of risk models and post-disaster information systems.
SEE MORE{for} SOCIETY
Our research aims to be useful to communities recovering from, exposed to, or otherwise grappling with the impacts of disasters.
SEE MORELAB
As a research group, we treat each other with respect, empathy, and mindfulness. Our research must engage communities respectfully.
SEE MOREDisaster
We work on a range of natural hazards including earthquakes, floods, volcanic eruptions, tropical storms, and more. Our focus is on disasters in Southeast Asia.
WHY WE WORK
We do this work to reduce the extremes of suffering caused by disasters and to build a more just, equitable world.
MOTIVATIONS
We are motivated to address the deep structural issues that disasters highlight within society by our experiences with natural hazards, with post-disaster contexts, and our positionality within Southeast Asia.
‘NATURAL’ DISASTERS?
We believe that ‘natural disasters’ are not simply the result of natural forces — they are caused as much by human decisions about risk, development, equity and justice as they are by changes in weather or geology.
PROMOTING RESILIENCE
Our goal is to promote the resilience of communities by developing tools, research and models that enable them to understand risk and take action to mitigate those risks and recover equitably from disasters.
Analytics
We apply novel methods — including the latest advances in remote, distributed, and crowd-based sensing, machine learning, imagery analysis, and other technologies — to push the boundaries of risk models and post-disaster information systems.
CRAFTFULNESS
We bring a commitment to excellence and craftfulness to our work, and strive to mix our deep technical expertise with the tools of other disciplines and perspectives.
INTEGRITY
We approach our work with integrity, transparency, and a spirit of openness. This means that we represent our research truthfully and humbly, rather than promoting ‘tech saviourism’.
TRANSDISCIPLINARITY
Our research spans many disciplines, including engineering and statistics, social science, natural sciences, and public policy. We collaborate broadly and deeply across these fields.
SELF-REFLEXIVITY
Wherever we work, we engage with local histories and contexts with sensitivity and nuance, and ensure that we create spaces for self-reflection throughout our projects.
{for} Society
Our research aims to be useful to communities recovering from, exposed to, or otherwise grappling with the impacts of disasters on society.
ENGAGING LOCALLY
We believe in the value of working with local researchers, collaborators, organisations, governments and other stakeholders throughout the research process: asking research questions that reflect what these communities need, collecting field data in ethical and respectful ways, and ensuring that our findings are translated and made available to those with whom we work.
MAKING RESEARCH USABLE
We work hard to make sure our research is useful, needed, and usable — especially by including potential users of our research in the design process. The tools we develop and the research we publish all share the goal of promoting resilience and reducing the vulnerability of communities to natural hazards.
LIVING & WORKING IN THE ANTHROPOCENE
We do all of this work with the recognition that we are living in a uniquely precarious time. The epoch known as the Anthropocene represents the culmination of many of the challenges our research seeks to address: increasing disruption to natural systems, the loss of vital ecosystem services, ever-more precarious development, and increasing, uncertain risks.
SHARING GENEROUSLY
We share our work generously and welcome new collaborators, new friends and new opportunities enthusiastically. We see ourselves as part of a community of researchers with the shared goal of reducing the vulneraiblity of communities to disasters and promoting resilient, safe and equitable recovery.
Lab
Drawn from the Latin laboratorium, “a place for labor or work,” we strive to ensure that our research group is a good place to work.
NTU, EOS, ASE, & SINGAPORE
We are lucky to be housed at Nanyang Technological University (NTU) in Singapore, where we are part of a broader community of researchers at the Earth Observatory of Singapore (EOS) and Asian School of the Environment (ASE). We actively engage with the NTU community, collaborate across departments, and build relationships with other researchers and academics across Singapore.
A SUPPORTIVE DASL
Within the DASL team, we treat each other with respect, empathy, and mindfulness. We provide each other with support, advice and mentorship while also recognising each other’s unique perspectives and identities. We build healthy relationships within and between teams, provide genuine and respectful feedback, and give generously of our time and effort to each other.
ACADEMICS & THE ACADEMY
We also take seriously the history of the academy as an institution, especially in relation to research ethics in complex and vulnerable contexts. We strive to model the best practice in the fieldwork we do and in the ways our research engages with communities.
CULTIVATING COMMUNITY
Our work benefits enormously from the support of our collaborators, funders, and institutions. We are building a hub in the region for disaster risk researchers, and regularly host visitors to build a community of engaged, critical and well-connected disaster risk researchers based in Singapore.
Join us!
VIEW OPPORTUNITIESWe are looking to hire passionate PhD students, Research Assistants (Bachelor’s), Research Associates (Master’s), and Research Fellows (post-docs). Click the link above for more details.