The ADES faculty members are all experts in this exciting new discipline. Each brings a unique combination of education and experience that provides the ADES students with a well rounded education.

Etsuko Yasui, PhD

Dr Yasui completed her Ph.D. at the University of British Columbia, School of Community and Regional Planning, in December 2007. Her doctoral research investigated the recovery processes in two small Japanese neighbourhoods in the aftermath of the 1995 Kobe Earthquake. This research uncovered complex relationships between community vulnerability and capacity building. The Kobe earthquake hit the Kansai region of Japan while Etsuko was attending the University of Oregon (Eugene, OR), where she studied environmental issues and international development. Since the Kobe earthquake, Dr. Yasui has become interested in the social aspects of natural disasters, and in particular issues of social vulnerability, human development, and long-term consequences. Her current work focuses on the human impact of disasters and the assessment of community capacity in coping with such events. Dr. Yasui was born and raised in Kyoto, Japan.

Balfour Spence, PhD

Dr. Spence joined the ADES Department from the University of the West Indies, Jamaica in 2008 after 12 years lecturing in the Department of Geography and Geology. He researches and publishes extensively on issues related to disaster risk communication, disaster risk assessment, disaster and development as well as environmental management and food security. His teaching and research experience covers the Caribbean region but also Indonesia. Dr Spence has also supervised and examined several PhD and Masters researchers in the Caribbean.

John Lindsay, MCP

Mr. Lindsay received the degree of Master of City Planning from the University of Manitoba in 1993 with a research focus on urban planning and emergency management. He now combines research with 20 years of experience in the field. He worked in New Zealand for six years, first as a hazard analyst in Wellington and then managing the Auckland City Council emergency management program. He returned to Canada to join Manitoba Health as a disaster management specialist from 1999 to 2005. He started teaching at Brandon University in 2001 and has held a fulltime appointment since 2005. Mr. Lindsay contributes to the disaster management profession through research and at numerous conferences as both an organizer and speaker. His recent research for the Public Health Agency of Canada and Public Safety Canada focused on disaster vulnerability.

Their shared disaster research interests include education, risk communication, community-based planning, socio-economic vulnerability and resiliency, business continuity, urban and rural issues and emergency management policy.

Sheika Henry, PhD

Dr. Sheika Henry is currently an Assistant Professor on a two-year limited-term position in the Department of Applied Disaster and Emergency Studies at Brandon University, Canada.
Her expertise is in the utilization of Geographic Information Systems (GIS), remote sensing, hydrodynamic models and participatory approaches to predict hydro-meteorological, geomorphic and epidemiological risks under past, current and future climate conditions. Related expertise includes the design of climate risk adaptation strategies, risk and vulnerability assessment, policy development, disaster management, water resources management and risk communication.
Geographically, Dr. Henry’s academic and research experience include the Caribbean region, Europe, South America and North America. Sheika earned her PhD in Geography from the Federal University of Parana in Brazil. On Completion of her PhD, Dr. Henry was engaged as a Postdoctoral Research Fellow in flood hazard mapping at the Université de Moncton in Canada. She also pursued a Master of Science Degree (MSc) in GIS and remote sensing with specialization in Geo-hazards (Disaster Management) from the University of Twente in The Netherlands and a Bachelor’s Degree in Geography from The University of the West Indies (UWI) Mona Campus. Sheika also has a Certificate in Supervisory Management from The UWI Open Campus in Jamaica.
After pursuing her MSc. Dr. Henry worked as a Spatial Data Analyst at The Urban Development Corporation (a spatial development company) in Jamaica.
She also served as an Instructor in Geography on a one-year limited-term position at the University of Winnipeg in Canada and as an Advisor to Natural Resources Canada on flood mapping guidelines.
Dr. Henry currently serves on the Master of Environment and Life Science (MELS) Committee in the Faculty of Science as well as on the Brandon University President’s Anti-Racism Committee and has also served in a supervisory/advisory role for both graduate and undergraduate students at Brandon University and Université de Moncton.
Dr. Henry has amassed in excess of five years’ experience teaching at the secondary and university levels and is currently the recipient of a Brandon University Research Committee (BURC) New Researcher Award. She has also been the recipient of a European Union Erasmus Mundus Scholarship and an Organization of American States (OAS) Scholarship.