Connecting research, communication, and human behaviour to disasters

Today’s guest is Dr Barbara Ryan - an award-winning disaster behaviour researcher, communicator and long-time leader in emergency management communication across Australia.

Barbara has spent more than 40 years working across journalism, public relations, research and teaching, with a strong focus on how people seek information, respond to risk and engage during disasters.

She is the founder of Cicada Research and Communication and was a founding director of Emergency Media and Public Affairs (EMPA) — helping shape the emergency communication profession across Australia and New Zealand. 

Barbara’s work explores one of the biggest challenges in disaster resilience: how we better connect research, communication and human behaviour to real-world preparedness and recovery. 

She’s also a volunteer firefighter and community educator, bringing both academic insight and lived frontline experience to the conversation.

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