Deborah Shmueli (University of Haifa) – Head of Center, Public Policy Group
Deborah F. Shmueli is a Full Professor in the Department of Geography and Environmental Studies at the University of Haifa, Head of the National Knowledge and Research Center for Emergency Readiness (awarded in 2018), and a co-Principal Investigator (PI) of the Minerva Center for Law and Extreme Conditions at the University of Haifa (awarded in 2013). After completing a four year term as Department Head, she is currently the Academic Head of the graduate program in Emergency and Disaster Management. The program covers six dimensions of disaster management: planning, prevention, mitigation, response, support and recovery. She is a planner specializing in environmental policy issues related to land use and allocation, water, solid waste and transportation. Strong foci are public sector and environmental conflict management and community and institutional capacity building and public engagement. She has served as a consultant for master plans in Israel (currently a member of the Strategic Planning team for Israel 100 – in year 2048), facilitated collaborative stakeholder processes, conducted conflict assessments and workshops on consensus building, conflict assessment and environmental/public sector conflict management. Over the last ten years she has worked intensively on land issues with Bedouin communities in the Negev, coauthored a book on the subject and served on a five-member Commission of Inquiry (appointed by the Israeli Ministry of Interior) into the desired municipal and spatial planning boundaries of the Bedouin communities in the Beer Sheva District. She currently serves as one of five permanent members of the Commission of Inquiry regarding Unification of Local Authorities, Changes in Areas of Jurisdiction of Local Authorities and the Redistribution of Resources among Local Authorities in the Haifa Metropolitan Area (Haifa Metropolitan Area Permanent Geographic Boundary Committee, Ministry of Interior). She is PI for two research projects for the Ministry of Science and Technology which focus on earthquakes: Evaluating Israe's Regulatory Framework for Earthquake Preparedness and Response and Recovery, including Public Engagement Mechanisms (completed, two articles in review); and Tools and mechanisms for public engagement in local authorities with regard to earthquake preparedness, response and recovery (completed first year).
Her undergraduate and master’s degree are from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) (1980) and her Doctorate degree from the Technion, Israel Institute of Technology (1992).