M Usman Mirza

Usman’s research interest lies in analysing resilience and critical transitions in complex systems related to society, environment and the economy. We live in a dynamic world, influenced by constraints and/or nonlinear forcing caused by, to name a few, the fragile environment we live in; finite natural resources we consume; economic trade-offs we make; political pressures we face. These external pressures can cause sudden changes or critical transitions in complex systems leading to, possibly, alternative stable states. By applying complexity theory, Usman aims to understand dynamics of the interrelated social, environmental and economic systems; and also design early warning signals, to provide policy insights into improving resilience.

Currently Usman is a PhD candidate and researcher, supervised by Marten Scheffer & Egbert Van Nes at Wageningen University and Research Centre in the Netherlands.

Usman is also an Early Stage Marie Skłodowska-Curie Researcher at CRITICS.

Previously, Usman was based at a think tank in Pakistan – LEAD Pakistan – leading  their Water Programme. His work involved policy relevant research on a broad range of aspects including water pricing, groundwater management, climatic impacts and hydro-diplomacy in transboundary water.

Usman has a MS in Public Policy from Carnegie Mellon University (CMU), US and a BS in Economics from Lahore University of Management Sciences (LUMS), Pakistan.

In his spare time, Usman love to travel, trek, hike and enjoy good food. He am a keen admirer of historical buildings and cultural heritage sites. A place is not worth living or even visiting without fine art, architecture and cuisine.

For further information:

http://www.linkedin.com/in/muhusmanmirza

Contact

 muh.usmanmirza@gmail.com | Skype: muh.usmanmirza

Publications

Mirza, M. U., & Mustafa, D. (2016). Access, Equity and Hazards: Highlighting a Socially Just and Ecologically Resilient Perspective on Water Resources. In Sustainable Development and Disaster Risk Reduction (pp. 143-159). Springer Japan.

  Art by Tone Kristin Bjordam

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