Nick Dudley Ward

Nick Dudley Ward has over 30 years of experience as an engineer, scientist and humanitarian  He has a track record for communicating complex issues with clarity to diverse stakeholders across university, industry, government policy and humanitarian endeavours. He is currently Principal Engineer at Aqualinc Research in Christchurch, Canterbury,  New Zealand.

He has lectured in many universities around the world including the Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania, on topics spanning mathematics, statistics, and engineering. His research and engineering expertise and experience includes groundwater and hydraulics, military and civil field engineering, and geophysics.  He was Director of Humanitarian Engineering at the University of Canterbury where he developed a world first field programme focused on emergency engineering in a New Zealand and Pacific Island context. The sustainable development goals and climate change adaptation were key features of the programme.

Previous experience includes City of London risk analyst,  Lloyd’s of London insurance market assessment and modelling of catastrophic physical risks and disaster risk reduction, consulting engineer, and director of a non-profit organisation focused on climate change effects on groundwater.  Over the last 12 years Nick has worked on developing enhanced geophysical methods for mapping and characterising groundwater systems; this work ranges from measurement and instrumentation to field engineering and imaging.  A particular area of focus has been helping vulnerable Pacific Island communities understand the impacts of sea level rise on marginal groundwater resources, https://www.sge-pacific.org. Nick is currently writing a book Climate Change Adaptation: What it means for me and my family, as well as a treatise on Seismic and Electrostatic Methods for Groundwater Exploration. He is committed to using his experience and expertise in planning and capacity building to help communities adjust to future uncertainties. He earned his Masters of Engineering at Drexel University and his DPhil in Mathematics at the University of York supervised by Professor WK Hayman, FRS.