Team

Disaster scientist and humanitarian technical advisor

I am Assistant Professor of Disaster Resilience and Humanitarian Assistance. I have a track record in the field of disaster risk reduction, disaster resilience, humanitarian assistance, self-recovery, and decision-making. I have studied and worked in humanitarian assistance/aid, post-disaster reconstruction, shelter and settlement, migration in Europe, and adaptation to climate change of the built environment for more than 10 years, especially in hazard prone areas in low-income countries. I lecture on humanitarian engineering, disaster risk reduction, disaster resilience, methodology, and organize in-situ/fieldwork research for students.

At the Faculty of Geo-information Science and Earth Observation (ITC), I currently lead a project called Enabling vulnerable communities to build back safer, financed by a personal VENI grant from the Dutch Research Council (NWO). This project explores decision making during post-disaster reconstruction to find pathways for effective assistance to build back safer housing. I am interested in decision making in complex multi-hazard situations, linked to challenges of climate change. I aim to develop assistance strategies for both governmental and humanitarian actors. I am also interested in digital tools to support safer self-recovery after disasters.

I am a member of the Centre for Disaster Resilience at the University of Twente, and support research proposals and communication. I also serve as a daily board member of Technology for Global Development, at the Eindhoven University of Technology, bridging the gap between science and practice. I actively engage with stakeholders from the Global Shelter Cluster, allowing me to stay close to the experiences and processes taking place in my fields of study. I also serve as an author, guest-editor, and reviewer for leading journals, including Disaster Prevention and Management and Disaster Risk Reduction. I am part of a movement calling for more inclusive disaster studies. I engage in research, monitoring and evaluation and advisory consultancy work. Currently, I support different municipalities and regions in adaptation to climate change for the EU Adaptation Strategy. I regularly present at different conferences, and engage in organizing conferences or conference panels, in collaboration with academic peers.

Before my current position at the University of Twente, I worked as a researcher, project leader with local and international NGOs. As a researcher and practitioner, my work has taken me to multiple complex and disaster-prone places, such as Nicaragua, the Philippines, Nepal, Senegal, and Argentina. I have experience in the development of fieldwork in hostile, complex, and remote areas. In my fieldwork and education, I collaborate with numerous NGOs, including CRS, Cordaid, IFRC, Medicin Sans Frontieres, Habitat for Humanity, Stichting Samenscholen, Bambu Social.I have also been an academic, lecturer and visiting research at several universities, including the University of Sydney and the University of Catalunya.

I hold a PhD degree (2020) on effective communication to reduce housing vulnerability in post-disaster reconstruction from the Technical University Eindhoven. I conducted field research in remote communities in Nepal, the Philippines, using a mixed-method approach, including 1600 household surveys and structural housing assessments, 65 focus group discussions, and 120 key stakeholder interviews. I studied socio-technical pathways to the adoption of hazard-resistant construction knowledge. I received a personal grant for my study from the Dutch Research Council (NWO) and several other research prizes. In 2013, I simultaneously completed two MSc degrees in Architecture and Building Technology receiving cum laude honours for both (top 7%).

Dr. ir. Eefje Hendriks

University of Twente
Assistant professor| Disaster Resilience and Humanitarian Assistance
Member | Applied Earth Sciences | Centre for Disaster Resilience | Humanitarian Engineering | Nepal Technical Working Group | Circular Emergency Shelter | Centre of Expertise Veilige en Veerkrachtige Stad en Omgeving | Covenant of Mayors Policy Support Facility
Lecturer | Humanitarian Engineering
ITC Faculty for Geo-Information Science and Earth Observation, Hengelosestraat 99, 7514 AE Enschede, The Netherlands

Avans University of Applied Science
Lecturer | System thinking in disaster resilience
Project leader and researcher | New Materials and their Applications | Circular Emergency Shelter
Academy of Sustainable Built Environment | Lectureship New Materials and Applications | Minor Disruptive Events (inter)national Disaster Resilience, Climate Change and Migration
Professor Cobbenhagenlaan 13, 5037 DA Tilburg, The Netherlands

Email: e.hendriks@utwente.nl / e.hendriks3@avans.nl

LinkedIn /Twitter /Research Gate /Google Scholar /Issuu 

Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam

Sydney University

Avans University of Applied Sciences

University of Tilburg

University of Twente

Georg-August-University of Göttingen

HRRP and CRS Nepal

University College London

Delft University

Coventry University

Universitat Internacional de Catalunya

Rome University

Master student Spatial Engineering

Master student Geo-Spatial Engineering

Master student Geo-Spatial Engineering