Personal statement

I am a Senior Lecturer in Human Geography and the Research Lead for Climate, Hazards and Environmental Change in the School of Sciences. 

My research interests include hazards, disasters, climate change adaptation and urban environments. My recent research projects have examined wildfire hazards and flood risk management in Ireland, and floods in the Indian Himalayas. 

My research informs my teaching contributions to degree programmes in Geography and Environmental Science. My teaching includes a particular focus on providing students with immersive learning experiences through residential fieldwork and I currently lead our Spain fieldtrip for third year students. 

I hold a PhD and an MPhil in Geography from Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey, as well as BA, LLB, and LLM degrees from the National University of Ireland (University of Galway).

Research specialisms 

  • Hazards and disasters
  • Climate change adaptation
  • Floods
  • Wildfires 
  • Urban environments

Research projects

Academic qualifications

  • PhD, Geography - Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey
  • MPhil, Geography - Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey
  • LLM, Public Law - University of Galway 
  • LLB (Hons) - University of Galway 
  • BA (Hons), Geography and Legal Science - University of Galway. 

Professional qualifications

  • Fellow of the Higher Education Academy

Professional memberships

  • Geographical Society of Ireland
  • Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society

Teaching specialisms

I currently contribute to teaching on the following modules:

  • Climate Change, Energy and Society (Module Leader)
  • Understanding Disasters: Socio-political and geospatial analysis 
  • Geography Dissertation (Module Leader)
  • Cities and Environment
  • Field Course in Climate Change, Water Resources and Sustainable Communities (Spain fieldtrip - Module Leader)

Journal peer review and editing

  • Article peer reviews for the following journals (2012-2026):
    • Annals of the American Association of Geographers
    • Applied Geography, Disasters Journal
    • Environment and Planning A
    • Environment and Planning C
    • Environmental Policy and Governance
    • Geographical Research
    • Global Environmental Change
    • International Journal of Disaster Risk Reduction
    • Irish Geography
    • Journal of Environmental Planning and Management
    • Land Use Policy; Planning Perspectives
    • Planning Theory and Practice
    • Political Geography
    • Proceedings of the Institution of Civil Engineers - Engineering Sustainability
    • Regional Environmental Change
    • Risk, Hazards and Crisis in Public Policy
    • Urban Climate.
  • Joint guest editor (with Monalisa Chatterjee, University of Southern California) for a special issue of the Journal of Extreme Events on ‘Hazards in Context’ (2016-2017).

Research outputs

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Mitchell, J.K, Jeffers, J.M and Brady, M.B (2016) 'The changing environment.' In: Auerbach, P.S, Cushing, T.A and Harris, N.S, eds. Auerbach's wilderness medicine. 7th ed. Elsevier, Philadelphia, PA, pp. 2524-2535. ISBN 9780323359429

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Mitchell, J.K and Jeffers, J.M (2011) 'The changing environment.' In: Auerbach, P, ed. Wilderness medicine. 6th ed. Elsevier/Mosby, Philadelphia, PA, pp. 2134-2144. ISBN 9781437716788

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Johnson, R.M, Pandey, B.W, Chand, K, Davies, C.L, Edwards, D, Edwards, E, Jeffers, J.M, King, K, Kuniyal, J.C, Mishra, H, Phillips, V, Roy, N, Seviour, J, Sharma, D.D, Sharma, P, Singh, H and Singh, R.B (2025) '鈥楬iFlo-DAT鈥�: a flood hazard event-disaster database for the Kullu District, Himachal Pradesh, Indian Himalaya.' International Journal of Disaster Risk Reduction, 120. e105336. ISSN 2212-4209

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Jeffers, J.M (2022) 'Building constituencies for flood risk management: critical insights from a flood defences dispute in Ireland.' Risk, Hazards and Crisis in Public Policy, 13 (4). pp. 356-378. ISSN 1944-4079

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Jeffers, J.M (2021) 'Particularizing adaptation to non-predominant hazards: a history of wildfires in County Donegal, Ireland from 1903 to 2019.' International Journal of Disaster Risk Reduction, 58. e102211. ISSN 2212-4209

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Jeffers, J.M (2020) 'Barriers to transformation towards participatory adaptation decision-making: lessons from the Cork flood defences dispute.' Land Use Policy, 90. e104333. ISSN 0264-8377

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Jeffers, J.M (2019) 'Saving Cork City? Place attachment and conflicting framings of flood hazards.' Geoforum, 103. pp. 26-35. ISSN 0016-7185

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Jeffers, J.M (2016) 'Hazards, climates and cultures: reflections on recent scholarship and proposals for further research.' Journal of Extreme Events, 3 (2). ISSN 2345-7376

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Chatterjee, M, Jeffers, J.M and Leichenko, R (2016) 'Editorial - Researching hazards: keeping pace with changing contexts.' Journal of Extreme Events, 3 (2). ISSN 2345-7376

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Jeffers, J.M (2014) 'Environmental knowledge and human experience: using a historical analysis of flooding in Ireland to challenge contemporary risk narratives and develop creative policy alternatives.' Environmental Hazards, 13 (3). pp. 229-247. ISSN 1747-7891

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Jeffers, J.M (2013) 'Integrating vulnerability analysis and risk assessment in flood loss mitigation: an evaluation of barriers and challenges based on evidence from Ireland.' Applied Geography, 37. pp. 44-51. ISSN 0143-6228

article

Jeffers, J.M (2013) 'Double exposures and decision making: adaptation policy and planning in Ireland鈥檚 coastal cities during a boom鈥揵ust cycle.' Environment and Planning A, 45 (6). pp. 1436-1454. ISSN 0308-518X

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Jeffers, J.M (2011) 'The Cork City flood of November 2009: lessons for flood risk management and climate change adaptation at the urban scale.' Irish Geography, 44 (1). pp. 61-80. ISSN 0075-0778

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Jeffers, J.M (2008) 'The representative and impartial jury in the criminal trial:an achievable reality in Ireland today?' Irish Criminal Law Journal, 18 (2). pp. 34-41. ISSN 0791-539X

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Jeffers, J.M (2007) 'Climate change and the law: reducing Ireland's greenhouse gas emissions.' Galway Student Law Review, 3. pp. 51-76. ISSN 1393-7448

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Jeffers, J.M (2003) 'Dead or alive?: the fate of natural law in Irish constitutional jurisprudence.' Galway Student Law Review, 2. pp. 2-16. ISSN 1393-7448

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Jeffers, J.M, Gonzalez, S, Pulido-Sanchez, P and Harwood, A (2023) Constructing a history of wildfires in Ireland using digitised newspaper archives. In: American Association of Geographers Annual Meeting, 23 - 27 March 2023, Denver, USA [online].

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Jeffers, J.M, Gonzalez, S, Harwood, A and Pulido-Sanchez, P (2022) A history of wildfires in Ireland (1850-2020) and its implications for contemporary climate change adaptation. In: American Association of Geographers Annual Meeting, February 25 - March 1 2022, New York, USA [online].

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Jeffers, J.M (2021) Historical perspectives on wildfires in Ireland and their importance for contemporary adaptation. In: 52nd Annual Conference of Irish Geographers, 18 - 21 May 2021, Trinity College Dublin, Ireland [online].

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Johnson, R.M, Edwards, E and Jeffers, J.M (2019) HiFlo-DAT: Indian Himalayan Flood Database, for Disaster Risk Reduction in the Kullu District. In: PAGES' Floods Working Group Workshop - Floods in a Warmer World: Insights from Paleohydrology, 11 - 13 November 2019, University of Geneva, Geneva, Switzerland.

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Johnson, R.M, Edwards, E, Jeffers, J.M, Kuniyal, J.C, Mishra, H, Pandey, B.W, Phillips, V, Roy, N, Seviour, J, Sharma, D.D, Sharma, P, Sharma, V, Singh, H and Singh, R.B (2019) HiFlo-DAT: Indian Himalayan Flood Database, for Disaster Risk Reduction in the Kullu District. In: British Society for Geomorphology Meeting, 9 - 11 September 2019, University of Sheffield, Sheffield, UK.

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Jeffers, J.M (2018) Developing historically informed adaptation research: reflections on challenges and opportunities. In: Climate Change Adaptation and History: An Interdisciplinary Conversation, 11 September 2018, Bielefeld University, Germany.

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Jeffers, J.M (2018) Complex conflicts in hazards management: insights from the Cork flood defences dispute. In: Conference of Irish Geographers, 10 -12 May 2018, Maynooth University, Ireland.

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Jeffers, J.M (2017) Public consultation and community opposition in flood risk management: the case of the 鈥楽ave Cork City鈥� campaign. In: UK-Ireland Planning Research Conference, 11 - 13 September 2017, Queen's University Belfast, Northern Ireland.

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Jeffers, J.M (2017) Disruptive hazards and climates: making sense of ambiguity. In: Conference of Irish Geographers, 4 - 6 May 2017, University College Cork.

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Jeffers, J.M (2017) Living with contradictions: messy and ambiguous interpretations of climate change by decision-makers and stakeholders in Ireland鈥檚 coastal cities. In: Environment & Sustainability Research Group Seminar Series, 9 March 2017, University of Exeter, Exeter, UK.

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Jeffers, J.M (2016) Complex, contradictory and dynamic framings of hazards and disasters: implications for social science research and theory. In: The 9th MaGrann Symposium: Hazards in Context, 2 March 2016, Rutgers University, New Brunswick, New Jersey, USA.

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Jeffers, J.M (2015) A historic perspective on flooding in Ireland鈥檚 coastal cities and its implications for current policy and practice. In: International Conference of Historical Geographers, 5-10 July 2015, Royal Geographical Society, London.

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Jeffers, J.M (2014) Floods, climate change and economic crisis in Ireland鈥檚 coastal cities. In: Environment, Politics and Development Research Group Seminar, 11 November 2014, King's College, London.

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Jeffers, J.M (2014) Learning from the past to face the risks of the future: developing sustainable approaches to flood hazards management. In: Conference of Irish Geographers, 8 鈥�10 May 2014, O鈥橞rien Science Centre, University College Dublin.

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Jeffers, J.M (2014) Not reinventing the wheel! Learning from past theory and practice in climate change adaptation. In: Association of American Geographers Annual Meeting, 8-12 April 2014, Tampa, Florida.

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Jeffers, J.M (2014) Climate change adaptation and economic crisis in Ireland鈥檚 coastal cities. In: Sustainability Research Centre Seminar, 11 August 2014, University of the Sunshine Coast, Queensland, Australia.

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Jeffers, J.M (2013) Learning from the past to prepare for the future: using historic analysis of flood hazards in Ireland to contextualise current events. In: Nordic Geographers Meeting, 11鈥�14 June 2013, University of Iceland, Reykjav铆k, Iceland.

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Jeffers, J.M (2013) Space, time, place and climate: how perceptions of weather and climate may shape adaptation. In: Conference of Irish Geographers, 16-18 May 2013, National University of Ireland, Galway.

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Jeffers, J.M (2012) Managing uncertainty and constructing risk: the limits of contemporary hazards mitigation and climate adaptation policies. In: Association of American Geographers Annual Meeting, 24-28 February 2012, New York.

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Jeffers, J.M (2011) Intersecting crises and double exposures: economic recession and climate change in Ireland. In: Association of American Geographers Annual Meeting, 12鈥�16 April 2011, Seattle, Washington, US.

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Jeffers, J.M (2010) Conceptualizing climate hazards: reflections on adaptation, vulnerability and decision-making in coastal cities. In: Association of American Geographers Annual Meeting, 14-15 April 2010, Washington DC, US.

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Jeffers, J.M (2010) Ireland in 2009: floods, frosts and financial crisis. In: Department of Geography Seminar, 3 March 2010, Rutgers University, New Jersey, US..

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Jeffers, J.M (2009) Minding the gap: knowledge, local decision-making and adaptation to climate change in Ireland鈥檚 coastal cities. In: Association of American Geographers Annual Meeting, 22-27 March 2009, Las Vegas, Nevada, US.

thesis

Jeffers, J.M (2011) Confronting climate: linking knowledge, values and decision-making to vulnerability and adaptation in Ireland's coastal cities. PhD thesis, Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey.

other

Johnson, R, Pandey, B.W, Chand, K, Davies, C, Jeffers, J.M, Kuniyal, J.C, Mishra, H and Sharma, D.D (2025) Accelerating change: flood hazard-disaster databases in the Indian Himalayan region. Science Policy Brief, Apr 25.