Dr Katie Oven

Associate Professor

School: Geography and Natural Sciences

I am a human geographer researching social vulnerability and resilience to disasters, with a particular focus on earthquakes and landslides. My research cross-cuts social, political and development geography, with theoretical work grounded in empirical research in South and Central Asia (Nepal, Northern India and Kazakhstan).

Recent research as part of the NERC/ESRC-funded ‘Earthquakes without Frontiers’ project has explored:

the politics and practice of disaster risk management at the national and local ‘community’ level in Nepal with Dr Samantha Jones (Northumbria)
economic development, livelihoods and resilience in developing rural Asia with Prof. Jonathan Rigg (Bristol)
the concept of disaster resilience in the post-Soviet Second World, drawing on research in Kazakhstan with Prof. Greg Bankoff (Hull)

Informed by critical physical geography, I also work closely with natural science colleagues to rethink how we do hazard and risk research. As part of this, I am currently a Co-Investigator on a NERC/DFID-funded Science for Humanitarian Emergencies and Resilience (SHEAR) project, focusing on post-earthquake reconstruction in Nepal in the context of wider social, political and economic change. This project brings together natural and social scientists in Nepal and the UK, NGOs People In Need (PIN) and NSET-Nepal, and the National Reconstruction Authority, Government of Nepal.

Prior to joining Northumbria University in September 2019, I was Assistant Professor (Research) in the Department of Geography at Durham University.

Email Katie

Research Themes and Scholarly Interests

The social production of vulnerability to disasters
Disaster risk governance

Key Publications

Please visit the Pure Research Information Portal for further information
Circular resettlement and ongoing risk: earthquakes, landslides, and the challenges of “integrated” reconstruction in Nepal, Shneiderman, S., Johnson, A., Baniya, J., Basnet, D., Bhotia, N., Dong, T., Puri, A., Rigg, J., Tamang, M., Oven, K. 21 Feb 2026, In: World Development
Reimagining disaster preparedness in Indigenous Nepal, Dong, T., Tamang, M., Johnson, A., Basnet, D., Bhotia, N., Puri, A., Shneiderman, S., Power, M., Rigg, J., Baniya, J., Oven, K. 9 Mar 2026, Reimagining Disasters, London, Routledge
7. Integrating ethnographic and physical science methods in interdisciplinary research projects, Johnson, A., Oven, K., Rosser, N., Basnet, D., Dorjee Bhotia, N., Bahadur Dong, T., Puri, A., Tamang, S., Kincey, M. 25 Feb 2025, The Field Guide to Mixing Social and Biophysical Methods in Environmental Research, Cambridge, Open Book Publishers
Brief communication: Weak correlation between building damage and loss of life from landslides, Van Wyk De Vries, M., Dunant, A., Johnson, A., Harvey, E., Li, S., Arrell, K., Baniya, J., Basnet, D., Basyal, G., Bhotia, N., Dadson, S., Densmore, A., Dong, T., Kincey, M., Oven, K., Puri, A., Rosser, N. 11 Jun 2025, In: Natural Hazards and Earth System Sciences
Corrigendum to “Needs and uses of scientific information for earthquake and monsoon contingency planning by humanitarian clusters in Nepal” [Int. J. Disaster Risk Reduct. (IJDRR) (2024)/Article Number: IJDRR_105166], Sijapati, S., Robinson, T., Densmore, A., Awasthi, P., Dunant, A., Li, S., Rosser, N., Johnson, A., Oven, K., van Wyk de Vries, M. 1 Jun 2025, In: International Journal of Disaster Risk Reduction
Needs and uses of scientific information for earthquake and monsoon contingency planning by humanitarian clusters in Nepal, Sijapati, S., Robinson, T., Densmore, A., Awasthi, P., Dunant, A., Li, S., Rajbhandari, R., Rosser, N., Johnson, A., Oven, K., de Vries, M., Heiselberg, S. 1 Feb 2025, In: International Journal of Disaster Risk Reduction
Review of landslide inventories for Nepal between 2010 and 2021 reveals data gaps in global landslide hotspot, Harvey, E., Kincey, M., Rosser, N., Gadtaula, A., Collins, E., Densmore, A., Dunant, A., Oven, K., Arrell, K., Basyal, G., Dhital, M., Robinson, T., Van Wyk de Vries, M., Paudyal, S., Pujara, D., Shrestha, R. 1 Mar 2025, In: Natural Hazards
National‐Scale Rainfall‐Triggered Landslide Susceptibility and Exposure in Nepal, Kincey, M., Rosser, N., Swirad, Z., Robinson, T., Shrestha, R., Pujara, D., Basyal, G., Densmore, A., Arrell, K., Oven, K., Dunant, A. Feb 2024, In: Earth's Future
The dynamic threat from landslides following large continental earthquakes, Arrell, K., Rosser, N., Kincey, M., Robinson, T., Horton, P., Densmore, A., Oven, K., Shrestha, R., Pujara, D. 21 Aug 2024, In: PLoS One
Modelling post‐earthquake cascading hazards: Changing patterns of landslide runout following the 2015 Gorkha earthquake, Nepal, Kincey, M., Rosser, N., Densmore, A., Robinson, T., Shrestha, R., Pujara, D., Horton, P., Swirad, Z., Oven, K., Arrell, K. 15 Mar 2023, In: Earth Surface Processes and Landforms

PGR Supervision

Bina Limbu Living with hazards: Everyday experiences of rural households in realatioin Nepal Start Date: 15/03/2024 End Date: 17/10/2025
Bina Limbu Living with hazards: Everyday experiences of rural households in realatioin Nepal Start Date: 15/03/2024 End Date: 20/12/2025