Contributed by Laurie A. Johnson (M.EERI 1990)
It is with great sadness that we announce the passing of David Johnston (M. EERI, 2013); he died on January 19, 2025. David was the Distinguished Professor of Disaster Management and Director of the Joint Centre for Disaster Research (JCDR), in the School of Psychology at Massey University in Wellington, New Zealand. As well as being the Director of the JCDR which he established in 2006, he was also the Deputy Director of Te Hiranga Rū QuakeCoRE, the multi-disciplinary, multi-institutional New Zealand Centre for Earthquake Resilience research program.
He was one of New Zealand’s leading researchers and educators in the fields of social science and natural hazards, with more than 30 years of research experience focusing on human responses to earthquake, tsunami, and weather warnings, crisis decision-making and the role of public education and participation in building community resilience and recovery. He authored or co-authored 260 articles in leading international peer-review journals in the fields of disaster management and was the editor of The Australasian Journal of Disaster and Trauma Studies, founding editor of the Journal of Applied Volcanology and a member of the Editorial Board of the Journal of Emergency Management. He was a highly sought-after doctoral supervisor, having supervised 35 PhDs and 16 master’s projects to completion.
David actively collaborated across scientific disciplines and institutions, both nationally and internationally. He initiated and led several insightful research studies during and following the Canterbury Earthquake Sequence, including into the nature and extent of injuries that occurred. His work informed the Canterbury Earthquake Recovery Authority’s wellbeing program and government recovery programs for COVID-19 and the 2023 Auckland floods.
He was a member of the USGS Earthquake Early Warning (EEW) External Working Group and co-chaired the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) High Impact Weather Project (HIWeather) Steering Group. He also chaired the global Integrated Research on Disaster Risk Scientific Committee (IRDR) and had a central role in the development of the United Nations Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction 2015-2030.
In 2016, he received the New Zealand Civil Defence Emergency Management Ministerial Award for outstanding and sustained contribution to the New Zealand emergency management sector over the past 25 years. He was awarded a Fellowship of the New Zealand Society of Earthquake Engineering in 2019 and was a nominee to the EERI Board of Directors in 2021. In July 2024, he was awarded the title of Distinguished Professor at Massey University.
In 2024, David spearheaded an international commemoration of the 150th anniversary of the first bilateral science collaboration between the United States and New Zealand. In 1874, scientists from both countries came together in Port Hutt, in the Chatham Islands of New Zealand, to map the solar system during the Transit of Venus. Along with Jocelyn Powell, Louise Piggin, and his son, Josh Stewart, David co-authored the book, Southern Heavens, about the expedition, and in December, David led a New Zealand delegation to the U.S. for the anniversary with presentations at the Library of Congress and the AGU conference in Washington D.C., and the opening of the Transit of Venus exhibition in Philadelphia.
David earned his Bachelor of Science and Master of Science at the University of Canterbury before completing a PhD in earth science at Massey University. He worked at New Zealand’s Institute of Geological and Nuclear Sciences (GNS) for 25 years (1993-2018), as well as the University of Canterbury, and was an Honorary Professor at University College of London.
As noted by David’s colleagues at JCDR, David “had a deep understanding of the power of building relationships and working with (and indeed for) communities, and he was always willing and eager to go to where the needs were and to meet people dealing with the personal impact of disasters. He was dedicated to improving the lives of all those affected by disasters and emergencies.”
David is survived by his wife Carol Stewart, son Joshua, siblings Chris and Sarah, extended family, current and former students, and many colleagues and friends around the world.
