Advisory Board

CNRD has an international Advisory Board which plays an important role in network development. It provides advice to the CNRD network regarding its orientation and sustainability.

The permanent members are experts representing international organizations or research institutions dealing with the key themes addressed by the project. In addition, regional, national, and local experts will be invited depending on the location of the advisory board meeting.

The board members provide valuable input for the project in general and act as partners in distinct activities. The permanent CNRD Advisory Board members are:

Anik Bhaduri

Executive Director of the Sustainable Water Future Programme (SWFP) and Associate Professor at Australian River Institute, Griffith University

Anik Bhaduri is the Executive Director of the Sustainable Water Future Programme (SWFP) and Associate Professor at Australian River Institute, Griffith University. Previously, he has served as Executive Officer of Global Water System Project( GWSP). With a background in environment and natural resource economics, he has specialized in water resource management. He has worked on several topics and projects, ranging from transboundary water sharing to adaptive water management under climate change. He also serves as a senior fellow at Centre for Development Research, University of Bonn.

Rhadika Murti

Senior Programme Coordinator Disaster Risk Reduction in the Ecosystem Management Programme of IUCN.

Radhika Murti works with IUCN as Senior Programme Coordinator Disaster Risk Reduction, in the Ecosystem Management Programme. In this position, Radhika leads IUCN’s global work on ecosystem based disaster risk reduction and also coordinates communication and technical support for The Commission on Ecosystem Management

She has a BSc.in Forestry Science from Australian National University and an MA in Land Management from University of the South Pacific and a background in forestry science, focusing on land conflicts and livelihoods within community based forest management in the Pacific. She is currently a PhD student in climate change adaptation at the University of Bern.

Prior to joining IUCN, Radhika worked for the UNDP Multi-Country office based in Suva, where she was involved with poverty alleviation and livelihoods, financial literacy, gender mainstreaming, MDG reporting and disaster risk reduction programmes across the Pacific. She has worked closely with a range of Pacific Islands’ Government bodies and NGOs, and has also taught at the University of the South Pacific in Suva.

Mahesh Pradhan

Chief, Environmental Education and Training Unit, UNEP

Mahesh Pradhan oversees the partnership with Tongji University through the joint UNEP-Tongji Institute of Environment for Sustainable Development (IESD) in Shanghai in close coordination with UNEP’s Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific. Similar partnerships at the regional level in Latin America and the Caribbean through MESCA and the Environmental Training Network (ETN), West Asia, Europe and North America are envisaged.

Prior to this, Mahesh has more than 16 years of experience as UNEP’s Regional Environmental Affairs Officer for Asia and the Pacific, based in Bangkok, Thailand. In 2009, he was assigned as Interim Director of the AIT-UNEP Regional Resource Centre for Asia and the Pacific (RRC.AP), which is located on campus of the Asian Institute of Technology (AIT) in Pathumthani, Thailand. At RRC.AP, focus was on regional support, network support, knowledge support and cross-cutting institutional support.

Muralee Thummarukudy

Chief of Disaster Risk Reduction at United Nations Environment Programme

Muralee Thummarukudy is currently the Chief of Disaster Risk Reduction at United Nations Environment Programme, based in Geneva, Switzerland. He holds a PhD in Environmental Engineering from Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur. He is an Alumnus of the International Leadership Academy (United Nations University) and a Beahrs’ fellow at the University of California, Berkeley.

Muralee has over 25 years of experience in Environment and Disaster Management around the world. Between 1995-2003, Muralee was Corporate Advisor to Shell operated oil companies in Middle East and South East Asia, dealing with oil industry related emergencies. Since 2003, Muralee has been with the United Nations Environment Programme. As Operations Manager for the Post Conflict and Disaster Management Branch, Muralee coordinated projects ranging from assessment to capacity building and clean up in all over the world.

As a post crisis environment management expert, Muralee was involved in post disaster response and follow up to 2004 Indian Ocean Tsunami, 2008 Wenchuan Earthquake, Cyclone Nargis in Myanmar, the earthquake in Haiti, Tsunami in Japan, floods in Thailand and the earthquake in Nepal. Muralee also has been involved in post conflict follow up in Iraq, Lebanon, Syria, occupied Palestinian territories, Sudan, Liberia and Ukraine.

Since 2009, Muralee focuses his work on Disaster Risk Reduction and is engaged in global advocacy for factoring in Ecosystems into National DRR Strategies. Muralee plays a leading role in the Partnership for Environment and Disaster Risk Reduction (http://www.pedrr.net).

He is also a member of the Emergency Preparedness and Response Committee of the International Atomic Energy Agency in Vienna and Advisory Board of the Center for Natural Resources and Development in Cologne.