The Systemic Futures Lab brings together researchers and collaborators working across organisational resilience, operational continuity, crisis management, systemic risk, disaster risk management, Earth Observation, risk communication, stakeholder engagement, and critical infrastructure resilience.
Leadership
Prof. Gianluca Pescaroli, Professor in Operational Continuity and Disaster Resilience, University College London, LinkedIn, https://www.linkedin.com/in/gianluca-pescaroli-0667b667/
Gianluca’s work focuses on organisational resilience, operational continuity, business continuity, cascading risk, systemic risk, and high-impact low-probability events. His research examines how organisations prepare for disruption, maintain critical functions, manage cascading effects, and recover when events evolve beyond existing plans. His work is strongly applied, connecting research with practice through stress testing, training, scenario development, stakeholder engagement, and policy advice.
Gianluca is Scientific Lead of Horizon AGILE. He is Senior Advisor at the Cambridge Centre for Risk Studies, University of Cambridge, Scientific Advisor to the United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction Corporate Chief Resilience Officers Network, and Visiting Fellow at the Euro-Mediterranean Center on Climate.
Researchers
Dr. Femke Mulder, Senior Research Fellow, AGILE Project and CLOSER Project, Department of Risk and Disaster Reduction, UCL. LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/femkemulder/ Femke Mulder works on disaster risk management, organisation sciences, and participatory research. Her expertise supports the Lab’s work on organisational dynamics, stakeholder engagement, and applied approaches to preparedness and resilience.
Dr. Afrah Daham, Research Fellow AGILE (previous EO4MULTIHAZARD), Department of Risk and Disaster Reduction, UCL. LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/afrah-d-30b8a4a8/ Afrah Dham works on Earth Observation, disaster risk management, integrated multi-hazard risk assessment, stakeholder engagement, and quantitative analysis of hazard, exposure, and vulnerability. Her expertise supports the Lab’s work on multi-hazard assessment, data-informed preparedness, and the translation of technical tools into practical capability.
Dr. Mhari Gordon, Research Fellow, CIRCLE, Department of Risk and Disaster Reduction, UCL.. LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/mharigordon/ Mhari Gordon works on risk communication, early warning systems, systemic vulnerability and resilience, community and stakeholder engagement, humanitarian action, and ethics. Her expertise supports the Lab’s work on communication, warning, vulnerability, and the human dimensions of resilience.
Doctoral researchers and alumni
The Systemic Futures Lab works with doctoral researchers, alumni, and practice-facing collaborators developing applied work on organisational resilience, operational continuity, critical infrastructure, systemic risk, vulnerability, and socio-technical systems.
Current PhD Students
Krisno Nugroho, PHD Candidate, Department of Risk and Disaster Reduction, UCL. LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/krisno-nugroho-198876212/ Krisno Nugroho works on critical infrastructure resilience, network governance, and public asset optimisation.
Hannah Dunne, PhD Student, Department of Risk and Disaster Reduction, UCL. LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/hannah-roisin-dunne/
Alumni
Dr. Dan Thompson, UCL Doctoral Alumni and Industry Expert at AECOM. Dan was awarded his doctorate in 2026. He works on electricity resilience modelling, hazard impact analysis on the built environment, resilience for infrastructure in developing world contexts, and data science for resilience.
Systemic Futures Lab 