Dr Simon Lambert

When the ground shook beneath Ōtautahi in 2011, Dr Simon Lambert was there, not as a distant academic, but as a father, neighbour, and whānau member living through the chaos and grief. The devastation that followed wasn’t just physical, it exposed deep fractures in the way disasters were understood and managed in Aotearoa. As Simon moved between helping his own community and listening to others who were struggling, one truth became painfully clear, the official response frameworks barely recognised Māori. “Our stories, solutions, and strengths were missing.”

That realisation changed the course of his life. It shifted his research from Māori horticulture and environmental management to disasters, from observation to transformation, from documenting impacts to building tools that uplift Māori leadership in the face of environmental crises. It wasn’t just a pivot in his career, it was a reclaiming of responsibility.

Since that time, Simon has become one of the most respected voices in Indigenous-led disaster risk reduction research globally. His work has taken him across the globe, from wildfire-hit First Nations territories in Canada to volcano-affected communities in Guatemala. It has seen him train Indigenous groups in emergency response, design culturally grounded recovery strategies, and advocate for systems change at the UN. But his anchor has always remained here, in Aotearoa, with his people.