Nuala Cowan is a Disaster Risk Management consultant with the Open Data for Resilience Initiative (OpenDRI) team. OpenDRI is part of the Global Facility for Disaster Reduction and Recovery at the World Bank. Nuala was an Assistant Professor of Geography at the George Washington University from 2013 to 2018. While at GWU, she co-founded Youthmappers, an international university consortium on Mapping for Resilience. Nuala continues her teaching and research affiliations at the Department of Geography at George Washington University.
Nuala has extensive experience in GIS and open data. As part of the OpenDRI team at the World Bank, she works specifically on the application of open geospatial data to understand risk, and prepare communities for disasters. In addition, as the co-founder of YouthMappers, she has dedicated herself to engaging college students in mapping societies and to sponsor education and research in the use of open data development. She has participated in several symposiums and workshops, on issues such as open geospatial technology, education around open data, and the application of these technologies to disaster risk management and humanitarian response.
