Since 2002, Chas Morrison has practical and academic experience in conflict and disaster, primarily in reconstruction and humanitarian response. Before joining Coventry University he worked for several years with humanitarian NGOs, based in East Africa and South Asia. He has undertaken projects and consultancies for multiple donors: various UN agencies, DFID, ECHO, and USAID. His research has been funded by the European Commission, IIED and Disasters Emergency Committee, among others. Recent fieldwork has been on civilian protection in urban siege in Syria, post-earthquake community reconstruction in Nepal, and faith groups in transforming local conflict dynamics in Sri Lanka, South Africa and Tanzania. Main research interests are how civil society and communities respond to and perceive conflict and disaster, and how international actors can more effectively support them. He teaches post-graduate project management and CPD on operating in challenging environments.

Conflict Response; Disaster Reconstruction; Civil Society; Civilian Protection

My career began in international disaster reconstruction, where the worst-hit areas were often weakly governed and affected by civil conflict. I then worked in humanitarian post-conflict reconstruction in East Africa and South Asia. My work now is inspired by the belief that violent conflict and disasters are not inevitable or random and there are concrete measures that can be taken before, during and after. Improving humanitarian conflict and disaster response requires listening to affected people and closer collaboration with them rather than compliance with donor priorities. I also believe that the entire field of conflict and disaster response and recovery will be transformed in the coming years by a variety of new technologies.