The IRMA Community
Newsletters
Research IRM
Click a keyword to search titles using our InfoSci-OnDemand powered search:
|
Olivia Kunguma
Olivia Kunguma
holds great interest in science communication because she believes it is futile to develop the best scientific knowledge and not share it with the public or non-experts. She holds a PhD in Disaster Management, where she investigated the status quo and dynamics of establishing information management and communication systems in provincial disaster management centres and contributed to developing a framework for establishing and maintaining the systems. Her PhD also focused on reviewing the Disaster Management institutions at Provincial level to contribute to improving disaster governance. Dr Kunguma also holds a Master’s Degree in Disaster Management, where her master’s thesis was on exploring rural women’s perceptions and experiences concerning water shortages in their communities and how they cope and adapt to the water shortage situation due to climate change. She also qualified for a BA and Honors degree in Integrated Marketing Communication. Dr Kunguma is a lecturer at the University of the Free State – Disaster Management Training and Education Centre for Africa (UFS-DiMTEC). She lectures in Management of Media Relations and Strategic Communication, Strategic Disaster Management, and Legal and Institutional Arrangement in Disaster Management. As a lecturer, she has graduated more than 400 postgraduate students in disaster management, supervised and graduated more than 20 Masters of Disaster Management research students, and one PhD candidate. Dr Kunguma is also a facilitator in some of the short learning programs offered by UFS-DiMTEC and an independent facilitator in Humanitarian Standards in Humanitarian Response (Sphere Project). She has published more than 20 peer-reviewed and popular articles in accredited journals. She has presented her research at local and international conferences like the World Conference on Disaster Management in Toronto, Canada. She is a registered professional member of the Disaster Management Institute of Southern Africa (PrDM08) and the South African Communications Association (SACOMM). Her research interests are analysing disaster management legislation and policies and their implementation, Strategic Disaster Management, Disaster/Risk Communication, and institutional arrangements in disaster management. Dr Kunguma has worked on several research projects as part of my contribution to engaged scholarship, such as developing the Integrated National Drought Management Plan for South Africa, where she led the development of the Drought Information Management and Communication Plan. Dr Kunguma also worked on the review of the eThekwini Disaster Management Plan project. She was also the project leader in developing a crisis communication plan for Frances Baard District Municipality. During the Disaster Management Institute of Southern Africa conference proceedings, Olivia also implemented her 1st Art on Disasters exhibition in Durban. This project was about instilling a culture of risk avoidance through art, a resource that the communities can easily access.
|
|