35.01°N 135.77°EKyoto
Japan
River systems, traditional ecological knowledge and the culture of disaster memory in Japan's old capital.
Disaster scientist at UCL, a global top 10 university
MaciejPawlik
Using nature-based solutions to build resilience, helping people learn the power of living systems.
I go where floods and typhoons hit, to find out how nature keeps people safe, and how people learn to let it.
PhD (UCL, in progress), MSc, BSc (Hons), FRGS, AFHEA
Disaster scientist and applied researcher. London, Warsaw, Kyoto.
Move your cursor to light the way.Tap the sky to move the light.
7Research papers, four published in Q1 journals as first author
£55kCompetitive grants from UEL, Sasakawa and BAICE, plus £50k pending
11Conference talks from Kyoto and Samos to Bali
3Fieldwork countries, the UK, Japan and Taiwan, one framework
Green Learning
The framework at the heart of my PhD, built from interviews in two flood-prone cities: Glasgow and Kyoto.
Trees, wetlands and rain gardens can protect a city from floods. But they only work if people understand them, value them and make room for them.
Green Learning maps how that understanding forms. I talk with residents, teachers, emergency services and policymakers about the nature around them, the floods they have lived through and where they learned what they know.
Their stories are woven into a place testimony: a portrait of how a whole city knows, feels and learns about risk and nature.
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How people see nature and riskIs a park a flood defence, or just a park?
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What floods have taught themLived experience shapes trust in nature-based solutions.
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Where learning happensSchools, drills, festivals, rivers and neighbours.
Into the field
Comparative fieldwork across the UK, Japan and Taiwan, places with very different relationships to water, nature and disaster.
35.01°N 135.77°E
56.21°N 4.81°WGlasgow
Scotland
Urban flooding, green infrastructure and community learning, tracing water from the Arrochar Alps down to the city.
38.37°N 141.06°EMatsushima
Japan
Coastal water systems and the pine islands that act as natural barriers to storms and tsunamis.
Paper, 2026
Already an injustice: Death Note and the threshold problem in disaster risk ethics
Published in Disaster Prevention and Management.
Read the paper The ConversationEast London is at high risk of extreme flooding. Here's how to limit the damage
How nature can help protect the capital.
Read the article Talk, 2026Green Learning for disaster resilience: preliminary insights from Kyoto
Young Scientist Session, 16th IDRiM Conference, Bali.
See all talksIn their words
From the students I've taught and the researchers I've worked alongside.
It was one of the most engaging learning experiences I've had.
His enthusiasm for the subject was genuine and infectious, and every session reflected real preparation and care.
Research requires not only a sharp mind but also well-developed skills, both of which Maciej possesses.
A truly exceptional researcher with an exciting future and real potential to enact positive change.
Notes from the road
Conferences, classrooms, festivals and a lot of rivers.
On the horizon
Where the path leads next: new collaborations across East Asia, the next chapter after the PhD, and a book of my own.
Visiting researcher, National Taipei University
A three-month stay in Taiwan studying how university students see nature-based solutions.
JSPS Postdoctoral Fellowship, Kyoto University
Comparing nature-based disaster resilience across different Asian contexts of governance and risk, at the Disaster Prevention Research Institute.
Day in Dystopia, my first book
Part truth, part fiction: fighting chronic illness while building a science career in a world that feels like a dystopia. In discussion with publishers. Read more
Find your way around
Tap a page to explore the rest of my work.
AboutBackground, expertise, education and memberships.Open About
ResearchPublications, grants and comparative fieldwork.Open Research
TeachingUniversity teaching, mentoring and services.Open Teaching
MediaConference talks, outreach and writing.Open Media
BooksThe reading that shaped my thinking.Open Books
Contact and CVGet in touch or download my CV.Get in touch
Heading somewhere difficult?
I'm open to research collaborations, consultancy, mentoring, talks and media on nature-based resilience and disaster education.