Dr. Ronan McDermott
Dr. Rónán McDermott, a Louth native, has long been passionate about the social and political dimensions of human rights. He brings an interdisciplinary background rooted in law, sociology and political science to bear in his work that concerns how to ensure the more effective and legitimate governance of disaster- and climate-related risks. He holds a BA (International) from the University of Galway, an MSc in Social Policy from the London School of Economics and Political Science, and a PhD from University College Dublin (UCD). Dr. McDermott worked at the University of Nottingham’s School of Geography before spending several years at University of Groningen’s Department of Global and Local Governance. In 2011, while teaching Social Studies at a Further Education Institute, he started his PhD at UCD’s Centre for Humanitarian Action. His doctoral research focused on disaster-affected populations and reducing risks from extreme events. He also examined how governmental agencies comply with legal and policy frameworks in disaster management and the influence of risk perception on their actions.
In 2016, Dr. McDermott became project manager at UCD’s Centre for Humanitarian Action, overseeing the Horizon 2020-funded Preparedness and Resilience to Address Urban Vulnerabilities (PRUV) project, which ran until 2019. During this period, he also served as a visiting scholar at Gadjah Mada University, University of Nairobi, and the Jesuit Refugee Service in Colombia.
Currently, Dr McDermott is a Lecturer/Assistant Professor and Ad Astra Fellow at UCD’s Centre for Humanitarian Action.
See below for more.
Current Research Challenges
Dr. McDermott contends that disasters are not natural, that they are the products of social, economic and political systems. They are rooted in failures of government and his work is to identify the root causes of those failures in order to ensure they are avoided in future. Ultimately, he aims to support more equitable and effective governance frameworks for disaster risk reduction and climate adaptation, with an emphasis on minimising the risk of extreme events. Governance structures can better manage systemic risks that extend beyond the initial disaster. For instance, a landslide can trigger downstream flooding, disrupting transport, agriculture, and connectivity, escalating into broader socio-economic risks and highlighting the need for coordinated governance.
Most of his research has been conducted in the Global South, in particular South-East Asia and East Africa. Ronan is currently supervising a PhD student focusing on river flooding and the important role of the communication with respect to risk between government and residents. A second PhD project underway in northwest Mexico examines how indigenous worldviews shape risk perception and response to heatwaves and droughts, focusing on their holistic engagement with the environment and ability to interpret natural signals.
More recently his work has turned to Ireland and the focus of the Irish Government on risk reduction, establishing the disaster risks to which we are exposed and how we can address them. He recently completed a Dutch Research Council-funded project that explores how digital technologies are used within government systems to help citizens report risks and propose solutions. A key impact of his work is uncovering the complexities in risk assessments that governments might otherwise overlook and the unintended consequences of responses to risk on different communities.
The Researcher
Ronan is a Director of the Network on Humanitarian Action (NOHA), an international association of universities that aims to enhance professionalism in the humanitarian sector through education & training, research & publications, and projects. He is also a Research Fellow with Resilience Development Initiative, an Indonesian think-tank focused on sustainable development. He is an active member of the Research and Innovation Committee in the UCD School of Agriculture and Food Science.
Partnerships play a crucial role in enhancing the quality and scope of his research, involving both co-creation with affected communities and collaboration with researchers in the field. He focuses on future collaborations, refining partnership approaches to ensure valuable outcomes while building capacity on both sides for long-term competence development. Within his work he shares that
‘’Navigating the ethical dilemmas within the work is challenging. On the one hand we want to work closely with people affected by the risk or exposed to disaster but on the other hand we don't want to be burdening them in terms of their time, re-traumatising them in any way. We want to learn from people and capture the context of what we can gain or learn from them.’’
In his work with collaborative partners, assessing a country's risk level goes beyond natural hazards such as volcanoes, earthquakes, or flooding. It also considers vulnerability factors such as social capital and economic capacity. While vulnerability and risk indices help highlight the complexity of risk and responses, his work privileges in-depth case studies, drawing meaningful insights from them, and learning valuable lessons for future practice.
Ronan enjoys cycling, sea swimming, tennis and spending time with his family.
Future Research Aspirations
Dr. McDermott’s research focuses on improving how we adapt to the growing risks of climate change by bridging the gap between academic research and policy-making. As part of the Climate Adaptation Ireland Network (CAIN), his work brings together experts and policymakers to enhance climate adaptation strategies that will remain relevant through 2050 and beyond, even as climate models continue to evolve.
‘’As disaster risk increases we need to be more nimble with respect to how we learn from past events and other contexts against a backdrop of climate change. What is it about our legal and policy frameworks that facilitate the learning process and experimentation and for scaling that learning to other contexts’’.
A key challenge is planning for uncertainty—how do we make decisions today that strengthen resilience for decades to come? Dr. McDermott’s future research aims to address this through three main approaches. First, improving the speed and efficiency of how we learn from past disasters and apply those lessons across different contexts. Second, fostering greater accountability between those affected by risks and those responsible for creating or mitigating them, particularly through the use of digital tools that promote engagement and transparency.
The third approach emphasises responsible dissemination of research findings to ensure they reach disaster management professionals, policymakers, and communities—especially in the Global South—where this knowledge can have the greatest impact. Dr. McDermott is passionate about transforming insights from case studies into actionable knowledge that builds resilience, improves governance, and ultimately benefits society.
By focusing on collaboration and knowledge-sharing, his work aims to create adaptive solutions that empower communities and improve preparedness in an uncertain climate future.
Related Links
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Video - UCD Earth Institute
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