Dr. Mir Sumira works as Project Scientist at the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Hyderabad’s Centre for Godavari River Basin Management and Studies in the Department of Civil Engineering. Her expertise lies at the intersection of disaster risk reduction, climate resilience, and sustainable development, built on years of field research in Jammu & Kashmir. An MSc gold medalist in disaster management (2015–2018), she completed her PhD in the subject from the University of Kashmir (December 2024). She was selected as a CDRI Fellow (Coalition for Disaster Resilient Infrastructure), 2023–2024 Cohort, where she designed and implemented protocols to strengthen systemic disaster resilience in mountainous regions by institutionalizing multi-stakeholder networks, processes, and mechanisms. She has certified training in geospatial technologies and applications from the Department of Space at National Remote Sensing Centre, ISRO. Her work reflects a strong commitment to bridging scientific research, community resilience, and policy innovation, with the aim of fostering disaster-resilient and climate-adaptive societies.
As a Fulbright-Nehru Postdoctoral Research fellow, Dr. Sumira is working on developing a digital land resilience model, a GIS-based computational tool designed for rapidly urbanizing Himalayan cities such as Srinagar. It integrates multi-hazard assessments, climate change projections (CMIP6), urban growth models (CA–Markov, SLEUTH), and policy simulations (agent-based modelling) to identify risk hotspots and test nature-based vs engineered solutions. The final goal is to develop a scientifically validated, policy-ready resilience model that helps Indian mountain cities make climate-adaptive decisions. Working with US experts allows Dr. Sumira to bring cutting-edge digital resilience planning to the Himalayas.