An assistant professor in the School of Social Work and Human Service in the Faculty of Education and Social Work, Dr. Bala Nikku is studying the long-term effects that natural disasters such as wildfires have on communities. He is examining permanent displacement, lack of community connection and other social issues, which makes his research directly relevant to the BC Interior. In his view, it is not disasters that destroy people and property, but mismanagement of disasters.

Background

Nikku is originally from India, where he did his undergraduate studies in social-work education. Before coming to TRU, he was with School of Social Sciences, Universiti Sains in Malaysia. He served as the founding director of the Nepal School of Social Work. Nikku received his PhD from the Wageningen University in the Netherlands. In 2015 he was awarded with a COFUND Senior Research Fellowship at Durham University, UK. He served on the executive boards of International Association of Schools of Social Work and of the Asian and Pacific Association of Social Work Education. His research interests include social work education in post conflict and transition countries, disasters, children, age care, international social work, comparative social policy in Asia and university community engagement.

Contact

Dr. Bala Nikku, Faculty of Education and Social Work
250-828-5242 | bnikku@tru.ca