We are pleased to invite you to the upcoming CIB W120 Disasters and the Built Environment online seminar titled “Climate Resilience: Building Back Smarter”
Date: Monday, 1st December 2025 Time: 07:00 – 08:00 UTC
This seminar will be presented by Dr. Katy Stokes and Dr. Catherine Nicholson from the Building Research Association of New Zealand (BRANZ). The session will introduce BRANZ to the W120 community, share their current and past research, and explore opportunities for collaboration in the field of disasters and the built environment.
About BRANZ
The Building Research Association of New Zealand (BRANZ), which is a CIB Full member, provides practical research, testing, quality assurance, and expertise to support better buildings.
Building with science, at its heart, BRANZ is a team of scientists, engineers, and professionals committed to ensuring that Aotearoa New Zealand’s buildings are the best they can be.
As a trusted, independent research and testing organisation, BRANZ uses collaborative research, testing and quality assurance services, deep expertise, and broad networks to deliver practical solutions that improve building performance and resilience to natural hazards and climate change.
Speakers
Dr Catherine Nicholson is a Senior Materials Scientist. Much of her work over the past 10 years has involved assessing the long-term performance and durability of new materials and building components that may have had only limited use in NZ. Catherine’s research has more recently switched to focus on building resilience to minimise the risks associated with natural hazards and climate change. She now co-leads the climate resilience project with Dr Katy Stokes.
Dr Katy Stokes is a Senior Materials Scientist, her research experience includes timber durability and investigating the impact of flooding on the building system. Further areas of interest include non-destructive detection of mould byproducts and chemical contaminants. Katy actively contributes to NZ and Australian standards, and technical panels. She is focused on resilience as a co-lead with Dr Catherine Nicholson, working towards reducing the impact of natural hazards on buildings through retrofit and smarter design.
Looking Ahead
This seminar is part of the CIB W120 Seminar Series, connecting researchers and practitioners committed to improving resilience in the built environment. Future sessions will highlight innovative approaches and research collaborations that advance disaster risk reduction globally
