Mark Milke
October 26, 2010
10:00 AM - 11:00 AM
Natural disasters can generate large volumes of debris. In some cases, many years’ worth of waste can be generated in a single event – often overwhelming local solid waste management facilities and personnel. Past disasters have led to various emergency measures to manage disaster debris, and the overall response has highlighted the lack of planning. The seminar will examine the technical, social, and policy dimensions of disaster waste management. A case study analysis of the response to the Australian bushfires in February 2009 will highlight the importance of focusing on key decisions faced in response to disasters. The seminar will include a questionnaire asking for the audience’s opinions on critical disaster waste management decisions. Rather than conduct more reactive and country-specific investigations, the speaker hopes that we can form multi-disciplinary, multi-national teams to provide the knowledge needed to respond better to future disasters.
Dr. Mark Milke is a Reader in the Department of Civil and Natural Resources Engineering, University of Canterbury, New Zealand. Since 1991 he has taught and conducted research here on various topics in civil and environmental engineering. From 2003-2009 he served as an Associate Editor for the international research journal Waste Management, and continues on the Managing Board for the International Waste Working Group. He has a PhD from Carnegie Mellon University and is a New Zealand Chartered Professional Engineer. He is currently conducting research on trading systems for water allocations, anaerobic digestion, carbon/methane behaviour in landfills, disaster debris management, and cost estimation for solid waste management in developing countries.
Date posted
Jun 21, 2019
Date updated
Jun 21, 2019