In her final year of undergraduate study, Maddy undertook an assignment that completely changed the direction of her future career.

“During my Architecture last studio class, we were designing post disaster housing for a community in Ecuador that had been impacted by an earthquake and tsunami.

“That is when I first discovered the field of disaster resilience and became very interested in how society can build resilience in their social, natural and built environment,” Maddy said.

Maddy chose to pursue postgraduate study with a Graduate Certificate, and then a Masters in Disaster Resilience at the University of Newcastle for several reasons.

“The program was directly linked to the UN and focused on international contexts.

“I was also keen to work with the faculty there because they all had an interest in post disaster recovery and reconstruction,” she said.

Maddy was also keen to study in Australia.

“I’m originally from the US and couldn’t find anything there that focused on disaster resilience. It seemed like most of the programs there focus on emergency management and response,” she said.

Maddy really enjoyed that the program was a mixture of practical and theoretical classes, and that her classmates all came from such diverse places.

“My classmates were incredible and came from diverse backgrounds. It was great learning from them,” she said.

Before starting her Graduate Certificate, Maddy spent a year volunteering in Mexico, helping NGOs with post disaster reconstruction after the 2017 earthquake.

“I have also worked for a nonprofit organisation that was involved in a project in Bega Valley.

“The team constructed temporary accommodation and bathroom facilities for people who had been impacted by the 2019-20 Black Summer bushfires,” she said.

Now, Maddy works as a Disaster Resilience Specialist for a consulting firm in Victoria called ResilientCo.

“We support local councils and organisations to help enhance their capacity and capabilities to manage disasters.

“That’s everything from emergency management planning to business continuity planning, and crisis management planning.

“We also are working on several community resilience projects, which includes training and mentoring community leaders,” Maddy said.

For Maddy, every day is different.

“I could be designing scenarios aimed at testing our client's capacity and capability, conducting research into an assets hazard risk, or developing an operational flood response plan for a local council.

“I help my clients understand their disaster risk and the different ways to reduce their vulnerabilities and increase their capacity,” she said.

From the Graduate Certificate of Disaster Risk Reduction, through to adding on the Masters in Disaster Resilience and Sustainable Development, Maddy feels like she has built a better understanding of disaster resilience across a range of contexts.

“The program focused on resilience rather than just response and recovery, which led to more diverse opportunities for me.

“It changed my perspective of how resilience principles can be applied in different contexts and career paths now seem endless," she said.

For those considering undertaking the Graduate Certificate, or the Master's program, Maddy believes it’s worth the plunge.

“It will definitely strengthen your understanding of key resilience principles and give you the tools to apply them in a real-life context,” she said.

Maddy Lackman `

Maddy Lackman

In her final year of undergraduate study, Maddy undertook an assignment that completely changed the direction of her future career. After postgraduate study at the University of Newcastle, she is now a Disaster Resilience Specialist.

My classmates were incredible and came from diverse backgrounds. It was great learning from them.