Centre for Research in Natural Hazards and Risk Reduction (CHaRR)

Interdisciplinary research for a resilient future
Lava stream flowing into the sea

Centre for Research in Natural Hazards and Risk Reduction (CHaRR)

Interdisciplinary research for a resilient future
The Centre for Research in Natural Hazards and Risk Reduction (CHaRR) brings together researchers from across the University to tackle outstanding questions in hazard science, risk and reduction, thus contributing to the targets of the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction 2015–2030 as well as the UN Sustainable Development Goals.
Natural hazards cause billions of dollars of damage, significantly affect people's lives, and can have long-term negative environmental effects. Climate change, population growth and urbanisation exacerbate events, and increasingly devastating cascading and multihazard sequences result in unexpected chains of events. 
Understanding, mitigating and responding to natural hazard events therefore requires multi-disciplinary approaches to effect change. Plymouth has a strong track record in hazard science, geoscience communication and risk and resilience, engaging with government, industry and communities locally and globally. CHaRR tackles critical hazard-related research challenges by bringing together experts from science, engineering and social sciences to foster innovation and interdisciplinarity.

I am excited to be leading this new research centre that brings together experts in hazard and risk with diverse expertise.

The world is facing unprecedented challenges in this area and interdisciplinarity gives us the tools to tackle these pressing issues.

Sarah BoultonProfessor Sarah Boulton
Director of CHaRR and Professor of Geohazards

Research themes

Geophysical hazards

Photo of an active fault, with the city of L’Aquila in the background valley
Quake4D
Uniting geology, physics and computer modelling to develop new approaches to understanding and calculating earthquake hazard
Landslide in Malaysia
EXCESS
The role of excess topography and peak ground acceleration on earthquake preconditioning of landslides
Underwater wave
Antarctic Canyon Experiment (ACE)
How do ice sheets affect turbidity currents and organic carbon cycling?

Meteorological hazards

Himalayan river with rocks, mountains and people hiking on the bank
SUPERSLUG
Deconstructing sediment superslugs as a legacy of extreme flows
Atoll island
ARISE
Natural adaptation of atoll islands to sea-level rise offering opportunities for ongoing human occupation
Waves hitting the coastline of Westward Ho!
Gravel barrier resilience in a changing climate
Increasing our understanding of gravel barrier dynamics to develop practical management tools
"Geophysical hazards such as earthquakes, volcanoes, and landslides, and meteorological hazards such as floods and extreme storms, are daily realities for millions of people around the world. Understanding and mitigating hazards is critical for protecting infrastructure and lives."

Research team

 

In the news

An image of the Perseid meteor shower captured by Dr Stephen Grimes.
Hunting stardust in Plymouth: new project invites people to discover cosmic dust from outer space

This project will encourage Plymouth residents to help uncover micrometeorites that may have landed on their roofs and in their gardens

31 March 2026
 

Research facilities

Commercial clients touring PEMC facilities
Plymouth Electron Microscopy Centre (PEMC)
COAST Lab - 2013914
COAST laboratory
Seating inside the Immersive Vision Theatre
Immersive Vision Theatre
High performance computing equipment
Lovelace System HPC
 
 
 
 
 

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