Dr Roger Few
| Job Title | Contact | Location |
|---|---|---|
| Senior Research Fellow |
R dot Few at uea dot ac dot uk
Tel: +44 (0)1603 59 3439 |
Arts 1.65 |
Biography
I have a background in human geography, political ecology, and environment and health in developing countries. My current research focuses on vulnerability and adaptation to natural hazards/disasters and climate change, with special interest in how households, communities and institutions respond to the health risks associated with climatic and environmental hazards. Recent projects on this theme have included an ESRC Research Fellowship (2004-2007) ‘Climatic hazards, health risks and response in developing countries’, with field studies in Vietnam and Mexico and a collaborative project ‘Seasonal environmental hazards: a multi-disciplinary approach to the analysis of health risks in lower-income countries’ (2007-2009), funded by NERC under the Environment and Human Health programme. Additional funding was been provided for development of experimental qualitative approaches within this project, and for coordination of a major research initiative, the Environment, Health and Development Network.
Wider research work spans various aspects of vulnerability and response to climatic and environmental hazards, including recent and ongoing projects relating to forest communities, water stress, environmental justice, disaster risk reduction, disaster recovery and community resilience to geophysical hazards.
I contribute to research groups in Climate Change and Development, Global Environmental Justice, Ageing and Development, and Health Policy and Practice. I am an Affiliated Researcher of the Tyndall Centre for Climate Change Research.
Applied research is a complementary component of my work, and I have recently led several projects relating to disaster risk, including a study to support implementation of the European Union’s Strategy for Disaster Risk Reduction in Developing Countries and the study ‘Linking Climate Change Adaptation and Disaster Risk Management for Sustainable Poverty Reduction’ funded by the European Commission.
Career
I have been working in social science research on environment, development and health since 1994, based at Leicester University, South Bank University and the University of East Anglia. I joined DEV in 2002, and have worked primarily on research related to climatic hazards and health risks, including projects funded by the Tyndall Centre for Climate Change Research, ESRC, NERC, EPSRC, British Academy, European Commission and DFID. In recent projects I have worked mainly in Vietnam,Mexico and India but I have research experience also in Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Cameroon, Uganda, Tanzania, Guatemala, Belize and the UK.
My undergraduate degree was in geography at Cambridge University, and, following a postgraduate diploma in journalism from The City University, I worked for several years as a freelance journalist, author and editor.
A full CV may be downloaded here.
Key Research Interests
Hazards and Health
Publications
Few, R., Brown, K., and Tompkins, E. (2007) ‘Public participation and climate change adaptation: avoiding the illusion of inclusion’, Climate Policy, 7, 46-59. Link to Journal ArticleFew, R. (2007) ‘Riesgos para la salud (y cambio climático)’, Todos por un Mexico Sustentable, 1, 24-25.
Few, R. (2007) ‘Health and climatic hazards: framing social research on vulnerability, response and adaptation’, Global Environmental Change, 17, 281-295.
Link to Journal Article
Few, R., Brown, K., and Tompkins, E. (2007) ‘Climate change and coastal management decisions: insights from Christchurch Bay, UK’, Coastal Management, 35 (2-3), 255-270.
Link to Journal Article
Few, R. and Matthies, F. (eds) (2006) ‘Flood hazards and health: responding to present and future risks’ Earthscan,
Includes the following 4 chapters:
Few, R. ‘Flood hazards, vulnerability and risk reduction’, pp8-27.
Few, R. and Matthies, F. ‘Responses to the health risks from flooding’, pp54-88.
Pham Gia Tran and Few, R. ‘Local responses to floods in the Mekong
Few, R., Matthies, F., Ahern, M., Kovats, S. ‘Flood hazards and health: implications for action and research’, pp168-183.
Few, R., Osbahr, H., Bouwer, L.M., Viner, D. and Sperling, F. (2006) ‘Linking climate change adaptation and disaster risk management for sustainable poverty reduction. Synthesis report’, MWH report to the European Commission in support of the Vulnerability and Adaptation Resource Group work program.
Osbahr, H., Few, R. (2006) ‘Linking climate change adaptation and disaster risk management for sustainable poverty reduction.
Few, R. and Pham Gia Tran (2006) ‘Prevention and cure: health sector responses to flooding’ Science and Culture 72, 1-2 (special issue on Flood Disaster Risk Reduction in
Few, R. , Brown, K. and Tompkins, E.L. (2006) ‘Public participation and climate change adaptation,’ Tyndall Centre Working Paper 95.
Few, R. (2006) Nature, people and planning on the coast of
Ahern, M., Kovats, S., Wilkinson, P., Few, R., Matthies, F. (2005) ‘Global health impacts of floods: epidemiologic evidence’ Epidemiologic Reviews, 27, 36-46.
Link to Journal Article
Few, R. (2005) ‘Prepare for flood health risks’ Energy & Environmental Management (DEFRA magazine), April 2005, 16-18.
White, P., Pelling, M., Sen, K., Seddon, D., Russell, S. and Few, R. (2004) ‘Disaster risk reduction: a development concern. A scoping study on links between disaster risk reduction, poverty and development’, Department for International Development (DFID).
Few, R., Ahern, M., Matthies, F., Kovats, S. (2004) ‘Floods, health and climate change: a strategic review’, Tyndall Centre Working Paper 63.
Few, R., Gouveia, N., Mathee, A., Harpham, T., Cohn, A., Swart, A., and Coulson, N. (2004) ‘Informal sub-division of residential and commercial buildings in
Few, R. (2003) Participation or containment? Insights from the planning of protected areas in
Matthies, F., Few, R., and Kovats, S. (2003) ‘Social science and adaptation to climate change’, IHDP Update (Newsletter of the International Human Dimensions Programme on Global Environmental Change) Issue 03/2003, 15.
Few, R., Harpham, T., and Atkinson, S. (2003) ‘Urban primary health care in Africa: a comparative analysis of city-wide public sector projects in
Link to Journal Article
Haxeltine, A., Few, R., Turnpenny, J., and Dessai, S. ‘Cimate change: the
Few, R. (2003) ‘Flooding, vulnerability and coping mechanisms: local responses to a global threat’, Progress in Development Studies 3 (1), 43-58.
Harpham, T. and Few, R. (2002) ‘The Dar-es-Salaam Urban Health
Few, R. (2002) ‘Researching actor power: analysing mechanisms of interaction in negotiations over space’, Area 34 (1), 29-38.
Few, R. (2002) ‘A preliminary assessment of community participation in protected area planning in the coastal zone’, Journal of Belizean Affairs 4 (2), 102-117.
Few, R. (2001) ‘Containment and counter-containment: planner/community relations in conservation planning’, The Geographical Journal 167 (2), 111-124.
Few, R. (2000) ‘Conservation, participation and power: protected area planning in the coastal zone of Belize’, Journal of Planning Education and Research 19, 401-408.
Few, R. (ed) (1993) ‘Caring for the Earth: a strategy for survival’, Mitchell Beazley,
