He holds a Doctor of Philosophy in Environmental Science discipline, awarded by Griffith University in 2020; his thesis dissertation was ‘‘The Challenges and Opportunities in Integrating Disaster Risk Reduction and Climate Change Adaptation in Bangladesh from a Political Economy Perspective. In addition, he has a Master of International Studies degree awarded by Kobe University, Japan, a Bachelor of Business Administration (BBA), and a Master of Business Administration (MBA) from Dhaka University, Dhaka, Bangladesh.
His PhD work was an outstanding work as demonstrated by a large number of high-quality research output. During his PhD, he published six research articles in few reputed international journals. In addition, he presented his research at two international conferences in front of a world-renowned audience of the respective fields. His research interests include Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR), Climate Change Adaptation (CCA), and political economy in public policy implementation. For instance, climate-related natural disasters are increasing and leading to devastating physical, environmental and socio- economic impacts. His research focuses on the interplay between collaborative governance and political economy aspects that can play an essential role in shaping the policies surrounding disaster management. At the local, national and international levels, his research identifies socio-economic and ecological aspects of adaptation and mitigation of climate change based on good practices. His comprehensive research skills will significantly contribute to sustainability-related actions in the world.
Throughout his research career, he actively involved in few collaborative research programs nationally and internationally. For instance, his current engagement with Dr Khondker Mohammad Zobair (Associate Lecturer, Department of Business Strategy and Innovation, Griffith University, Australia) in a collaborative research project focusing on Financial Technology in Bangladesh. The project specifically explores social, behavioural, organisational and technological determinants in policy adoption in mobile payment platforms in Bangladesh. As a chief investigator, he is currently conducting an extensive survey in Bangladesh. He has also been collaborating with Dr Shamsul Alam (Faculty Lead- knowledge, Associate Professor-Research, Faculty of Business and Law, De Montfort University, Leicester, UK.) in the project ”Remittance and Climate Change Adaptability in Bangladesh”. He has also been engaged with Dr Mohammad Ehsanul Kabir, Research Associate, Lancaster Environment Centre, Lancaster University, United Kingdom, under the project Living Delta Research Hub: on a research project titled ”constrained budding of weather index insurance in Bangladesh.”
He has demonstrated his ability to teach and train employees in the Ministry of Finance, Government of Bangladesh, where he lectured at in-house training programs. His teaching contents and assessment items cover disaster management, national budget, climate finance, sustainable development, environmental laws, research methodology, and so on. he also worked for education management, conducting public examination, and monitoring for quality education in various districts. He has conducted many training programs as an instructor in various national training organisations, including Bangladesh Institute of Administration and Management (BIAM), Bangladesh Civil Service Administration Academy, Bangladesh Public Administration Training Centre, Bangladesh Land Administration Training Centre, National Academy for Planning and Development, and Cumilla University. Besides this, he organised and conducted many workshops and seminars related to DRR, CCA, political economy, and financial management in Bangladesh and Internationally.
It is worth mentioning that he is a reviewer of several highly reputed academic journals, including Journal of the Asia Pacific Economy, International Journal of Disaster Risk Reduction, Sustainable Cities and Societies, Climate and Development, Environmental Science and Policy, Journal of Environmental Planning and Management, Environment Systems and Decisions. Additionally, he demonstrated his leadership skills as an elected president of Griffith University Bangladesh Association (GUBA) from 2018-2019. Another example of his leadership and high communication skills was his appointment as an International HDR Ambassador of Griffith University, Australia, where he successfully served his tenure 2018-2019, enhancing researchers experience and employability for the eight universities of Queensland.
Based on his research experiences, teaching skills, publications and awards, practical experience in the field level administration, national capacity development programs and policymaking in various ministries, strong communication and leadership skills, he has got what it takes to be an internationally recognised researcher and educator. Any organisation will be benefited from his professionalism and immense leadership quality to be considered for any endeavours he chooses to pursue.
1. Publications
- Islam, S., Chu, C., Smart, J. C. R., & Liew, L. (2019). Integrating disaster risk reduction and climate change adaptation: a systematic literature review, Climate and Development, 12 (3), 255-267
- Islam, S., Chu, C., Liew, L. & Smart, J. (2019). “Distributing flood shelters for disaster risk reduction: exploring the practices in Bangladesh from a political economy perspective”, Journal: Disaster Prevention and Management.
- Islam, S., Smart, J. R., Liew, L. & Chu, C., (2019). Challenges in integrating Disaster Risk Reduction and Climate Change Adaptation: Exploring the Bangladesh case. International Journal for Disaster Risk Reduction,Vllume 47
- Islam, S., Chu, C., Liew, L, Zubair, K. M., & Smart, J. C. R.. (2018), Structural Equation Modeling to Elucidate Political Economy of Funding Allocations for Disaster Risk Reduction, Journal of Risk and Financial Management.
- Islam, S., Chu, C., & Smart, J. C. R. (2019). A Political Economy Analysis of Public Spending Distribution for Disaster Risk Reduction in Bangladesh. European Journal of Sustainable Development, 8(5), 358.
- Islam, S. (2020). Climate Change Adaptation Efforts for Increasing Resilience: Exploring the Case of Bangladesh Climate Change Trust Fund Projects In Climate Adaptation for a Sustainable Economy: Lessons from Bangladesh, an Emerging Tiger of Asia, New York: Nova Science Publisher