Editor-in-Chief of the Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Natural Hazard Science

In June 2019, the director of the partners based at the University of Sciences and Technology Houari Boumediene (USTHB) in Algeria, Dr. Djillali Benouar, became the Editor-in-Chief of the Oxford Research Encyclopaedia of Natural Hazard Science. See below the Editors letter from Oxford Research Encyclopedia's website; 

The global annual increase in the occurrence of natural hazards is reflected in world statistics, which has caught the attention of the entire international community. This fact is indicated by the current diversity of actors participating across the globe to achieve the goal of disaster risk reduction. The growing global interest reminds us once again that the mission of reducing the risks associated with naturally occurring events is an opportunity for every one of us. Examples of diversity of possible roles include: international and regional organizations, governments, national and local decision makers, non-governmental and community-based organizations, scientists in all disciplines, teachers and students, and journalists. At present, both the public and private sectors are recognizing the importance of their joint contribution to the ongoing efforts to reduce the negative impacts of natural hazards on humanity and its ecosystems. Natural hazards science and technology is a field that truly shares the real interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary and inter-dependence that characterizes the prediction, monitoring, comprehension and management of all of these naturally occurring phenomena. From the earth sciences to all branches of engineering, and from human sciences to economics, scientific and technical disciplines that previously functioned independently of each other are now working together on the common agenda, integrating their knowledge bases to reduce disaster risk.

The Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Natural Hazard Science will contribute effectively to enhance the knowledge and use of science, technology, research findings and innovation for natural hazards understanding, and management for disaster risk reduction and reinforcement of the resilience of communities. For this purpose, there is a clear necessity for the translation of science and technology into practice to deliver more effective actions and measures for disaster risk reduction that are technically possible, economically feasible, and socially acceptable, and which really benefit communities, societies and their ecosystem

The Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Natural Hazard Science will stimulate interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary integration and collaboration between all stakeholders; this is why it is such an inspiring task, and one that will have a long-lasting impact on the domain of natural hazards, disaster risk management, and thus sustainable development. It will offer a shared platform to decrease disciplinary restrictions and facilitate a valuable collaboration in the delivery of useful information on this crucial domain of natural hazard and disaster risk management.

As Editor in Chief, with my editorial colleagues, I will explore all the opportunities to expand the Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Natural Hazard Science towards new publications on exploring Information Technology Communications (ITC), Internet of Things (IoT), Artificial Intelligence (AI), digital social data and Big Data to understand, detect, forecast, monitor and manage natural hazards with better and more timely inputs. It is my hope that every article of the encyclopedia will contain something of interest to all readers in natural hazards science and disaster risk management and that we collectively use our knowledge to strengthen the resilience of societies.

I hereby invite scientists and researchers in all disciplines related to natural hazards who are interested in publishing original research work, including contributions to synthesize the existing literature on one particular topic into a balanced overview of the topic, even for new area of research. Articles should follow an idea from its source to its present state, providing it with a meaningful perspective related to natural hazards. My aspiration is to make the Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Natural Hazard Sciencea unique reference source for all stakeholders acting together to reduce the impact of natural hazards on human lives, built environments, and ecosystems.

Djillali Benouar, Ph.D.
University of Sciences and Technologies Houari Boumediene (USTHB)
Editor in Chief