Rate My Professor Ksenia Chmutina

Professor Ksenia Chmutina is Professor of Disaster Studies in the School of Architecture, Building and Civil Engineering at Loughborough University. She holds an MA and PhD from the University of Nottingham, where she also worked as a Research Assistant prior to joining Loughborough in 2011 as a Research Associate in the School of Civil and Building Engineering. She advanced to Lecturer in Sustainable and Resilient Urbanism (2015–2019), Senior Lecturer (2019–2021), Reader (2021–2022), and her current professorial role. Chmutina serves as Director of the Institute of Advanced Studies, Associate Pro-Vice Chancellor for Impact and Internationalisation, Director of Equality, Diversity and Inclusion for her School, and the University’s Special Envoy for East Asia. She has lived and studied in Russia and China.

Her research focuses on urban disaster risk creation amid neoliberal policies and post-colonialism, disaster capitalism, disaster science communication, the role of language and narrative in disaster risk reduction, synergies and tensions between urban sustainability and resilience, disaster risk management of cultural heritage, and games and participatory methodologies for disaster risk reduction. She has conducted studies in the UK, India, Indonesia, Japan, Nepal, China, the Caribbean, and Europe, partnering with policymakers, non-governmental organisations, industry, and marginalised communities. Chmutina has co-authored over 60 academic papers and book chapters, including the textbooks 'Disaster Risk Reduction for the Built Environment' (Wiley, 2017) and 'Disaster Risk' (Routledge, 2022). Key publications feature 'A Dilemma of Language: “Natural Disasters” in Academic Literature' (2019), 'Solidarity in Disaster Scholarship' (2024), and 'In the Arena: Contesting Disaster Creation in Cities' (2023). Awards include a publication selected for the Disaster Prevention and Management 30th Anniversary Virtual Issue (2021), the Emerald Literati Award for Outstanding Reviewer (2019), and the Teaching Innovation Award (2018). She co-hosts the podcast 'Disasters: Deconstructed', co-directs the MSc in International Sustainable Development, and leads modules on sustainable and resilient development and disaster risk management.