Cities, Settlements and Infrastructure - Urban Flooding
Tracks
Cities, Settlements and Infrastructure
Tuesday, October 14, 2025 |
8:00 AM - 10:00 AM |
Auditorium 1&2 (hybrid) |
Speaker
Dr Gundula Winter
Coastal Risk and Adaptation
Deltares
FloodAdapt: A decision-support tool to accelerate adaptation to compound flood risk
8:00 AM - 8:15 AMBiography
Gundula Winter is a senior advisor and researcher for sea level rise impact assessments and coastal adaptation, and a key developer of end-user oriented tools for adaptation planning at Deltares. In her work, she is most excited about bridging the gap between quantitative adaptation assessments and long-term pathways thinking.
Assoc Prof Silvia Serrao-Neumann
Associate Professor Environmental Planning
University of Waikato
Dealing with uncertainty in flood risk management and land-use planning decisions: insights from Aotearoa New Zealand
8:15 AM - 8:30 AMBiography
Associate Professor Silvia Serrao-Neumann receives funding from MBIE Endeavour project 'Reducing flood inundation hazard and risk across Aotearoa-New Zealand', and Toka Tū Ake the Natural Hazards Commission. She has published widely on topics related to water resource management, climate change adaptation, and urban and regional planning.
Dr Ruth Lewellen
Doctoral Student
Victoria University of Wellington / Te Herenga Waka
The politics of flood management: Westport’s struggle for a secure future
8:30 AM - 8:45 AMBiography
Ruth Lewellen is a doctoral student investigating the intersection of policy, economics, and power in climate adaptation decision-making. With a background in natural sciences – focusing in mathematical modelling of ecological systems – she now applies a social science lens to explore how governance and institutional dynamics shape environmental outcomes in a changing climate.
Dr Cathy Bebelman
Chief Scientist
Auckland Transport
Auckland Transport’s road network landslide susceptibility framework to improve asset resilience
8:45 AM - 9:00 AMBiography
Dr Cathy Bebelman is scientist with expertise in environmental sustainability and transport infrastructure. In her current role she provides thought leadership to position Auckland for a lower carbon and resilient future. As the Chief Scientist, Cathy leads the environment, climate and social equity work for Auckland Transport.
Chris Armstrong is a Principal Geotechnical Engineer and the New Zealand Geotechnical Leader for Tetra Tech Coffey. He has consultancy experience in roads, rail, water, property and infrastructure projects and is a Chartered Professional Engineer (CPEng). He has worked on numerous high-profile projects in New Zealand, the UK and Pacific.
Dr Fabiana Barbi Seleguim
Post-doctoral Researcher
University of Sao Paulo
Climate governance, adaptation, and human rights: insights from São Paulo’s Resilient Municipalities project
9:00 AM - 9:15 AMBiography
Sociologist, PhD in Environment and Society, and former visiting researcher at San Francisco State University, the Institute of Advanced Studies in Social Sciences at Fudan University, China, and the Faculty of Environmental Studies at York University, Canada.
Dr Emily Lane
Principal Scientist: Natural Hazards and Hydrodynamics
Earth Sciences Institute (formerly NIWA / National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research)
Consistent national-scale flood hazard and risk information for adaptation planning
9:15 AM - 9:30 AMBiography
Emily is a principal scientist in natural hazards and hydrodynamic focusing on flood, tsunami and storm surge inundation. She currently leads Mā te haumaru ō te wai - an Endeavour programme focussed on understanding Aotearoa's flood inundation hazard and risk at a national level to improve our resilience to flooding.
Mr Sam Archie
Data Engineer
Urban Intelligence
Strategic retreat: balancing risk and societal goals in land-use planning
9:30 AM - 9:45 AMBiography
Sam Archie is a Climate Risk and Systems Analyst at Urban Intelligence; a company supporting community resilience. Sam had no idea that years later he would get to play a role that sparks sustainable urban transformation and empowers communities to become more resilient, healthy, and inclusive.
