Staff profile

Gopi is one of 2016 intake of the multidisciplinary Action on Natural Disasters (AND) doctoral training programme and is based in Geography.

Gopi K. Basyal is a PhD Student at the Institute of Hazard Risk and Resilience (IHRR) in Durham University. He comes from a professional background working in earthquake risk reduction in Nepal. Gopi works with the National Society for Earthquake Technology - Nepal (NSET) with a focus on multi-hazard mapping, risk assessment, and community-based disaster risk reduction initiatives, where his projects attempt to partner academic research and government agencies to address the needs of local people.

Gopi has previously worked with Durham University on the NERC-ESRC funded Earthquakes without Frontiers project, and has been involved in setting up post-earthquake landslide monitoring in regions of Nepal that were badly damaged by the 2015 earthquakes.

Gopi’s research interests that he is hoping to explore during his doctoral research include developing effective and sustainable communication strategies for people at risk to landslides in mountainous countries. This ranges from effective strategies for knowledge sharing, to responding to early warnings, to aligning the latest science on earthquake risk with community understandings and responses.

Gopi is looking to build upon his previous knowledge and experience gained working in the field of earthquakes risk reduction, and explore ways to apply this to reducing landslide risk.

Other research includes:

• a study on the disaster-poverty relationship in Nepal as part of the Global Assessment Report (GAR2009);
• the compilation and management of DesInventar Database for Nepal, an inventory of disaster events;
• mapping building damage following the 2015 Gorkha earthquake using UAV technology as part of the J-RAPID Project.

• Action on Natural Disasters
• Citizen Science for Disaster Risk Reduction
• Investigation of damage to buildings and ground truth verification for satellite data in Kathmandu Valley due to the 2015 Gorkha Earthquake
• Project Profile: Earthquake Induced Landslides in Nepal

Chapter in book

• Oven, K., Rana, S., Basyal, G.K., Rosser, N. & Kincey, M. (2021). Policies, Politics and Practices of Landslide Risk Management in Post-Earthquake Nepal. In Epicentre to Aftermath: Rebuilding and Remembering in the Wake of Nepal’s Earthquakes. Hutt, M., Leichty, M. & Lotter, S. Cambridge University Press.
• Dixit AM, Shrestha SN, Guragain R, Pandey B, Oli KS, Adhikari SR, Acharya SP, Jimee GK, Upadhyaya BK, Sangachhe SB, Shrestha N, Pradhan S, Dhungel R, Khatiwada P, Baskota A, Poudel A, Tandingan M, Upreti M N, Parajuli B, Basyal GK, Chaudhary S, Bhatta GR & Marasini N (2018). Chapter 5 – Risk Management, Response, Relief, Recovery, Reconstruction, and Future Disaster Risk Reduction. In Impacts and Insights of the Gorkha Earthquake. Gautam D. & Rodrigues H. Elsevier. 95-134.
• Basyal, GK (2018). The First 100 Hours: Emergency Response to the Gorkha Earthquake. In Evolving Narratives of Hazard and Risk: The Gorkha Earthquake, Nepal, 2015. Bracken, L., Ruszczyk, H, & Robinson, T Palgrave Macmillan. 45-61.
• Sudmeier-Rieux K., Jaquet S., Basyal G. K., Derron M., Devkota S., Jaboyedoff M. & Shrestha S. (2013). A Neglected Disaster: Landslides and Livelihoods in Central-Eastern Nepal. In Landslide Science and Practice. 169.

Conference Paper

• Hiroshi INOUE, Ramesh GURAGAIN, Gopi K. BASYAL, Suresh CHAUDHARY, Sujan Raj ADHIKARI & Tsuneo OHSUMI (2015), Damage Mapping of 2015 Gorkha Earthquake by Low-altitude Aerial Photos, Urban Safety of Mega Cities in Asia. Kathmandu.
• Chaudhary S., Jimee G.K. & Basyal, G.K. (2015), Trend and geographical distribution of landslides in Nepal based on Nepal DesInventar data, The 14th International Symposium on New Technologies for Urban Safety of Mega Cities in Asia. Kathmandu, National Society for Earthquake Technology - Nepal (NSET).
• Basyal GK, Chaudhary S & Shrestha SN (2015), Open-spaces inventory and analysis in planning for safe evacuation sites in earthquake emergencies for in Kathmandu Valley, Urban Safety of Mega Cities in Asia. Kathmandu, National Society for Earthquake Technology-Nepal (NSET) and International Center for Urban Safety Engineering (ICUS), Institute of Industrial Science (IIS), The University of Tokyo (UTokyo), Japan.
• Murakami H., Guragain R., Pradhan B., Adhikari S. Basyal G. & Mori S. (2015), Seismic intensity questionnaire survey for the 2015 Gorkha, Nepal Earthquake: Preliminary results and damage observations, International Conference on Earthquake Engineering. Japan Association of Earthquake Engineering (JAEE).
• Sujan Raj ADHIKARI, Gopi Krishna BASYAL, Surya Narayan SHRESTHA & Suman PRADHAN (2015), Post-earthquake assessment of buildings using Mobile Technology and Google Imaginary plus GIS visualization, Urban Safety of Mega Cities in Asia. Kathmandu.
• Shrestha SN, Dixit AM, Basyal GK & Chaudhary S (2012), Experiences of Shelter Response Planning for Earthquake Disasters in Kathmandu Valley, 15 WCEE World Conference on Earthquake Engineering. Lisbon.
• B.K. Upadhyay, K.S. Oli, N. Shrestha, G. Basyal & C.D. Ranamagar (2012), Experiences on Implementing Community Based Multi Hazard Disaster Risk Reduction Programs in Nepal, National Society for EarthquakeTechnology-Nepal 15 WCEE World Conference on Earthquake Engineering. Lisbon.

Journal Article

• Adhikari, SR, Basyal, GK, Dixit, A, Martin, SS, Landes, M, Bossu, R & Hough, SE (2017). Toward a unified near-field intensity map of the 2015 Mw 7.8 Gorkha, Nepal, Earthquake. Earthquake Spectra 33(S1): S21-S34.
• Rigg, Jonathan, Oven, Katie J., Basyal, Gopi Krishna & Lamichhane, R. (2016). Between a rock and a hard place: Vulnerability and precarity in rural Nepal. Geoforum 76: 63-74.
• Adhikari SR, Dixit AM, Basyal GK, Chaudhary S & Shrestha SN (2013). Urban Risk Atlas of Nepal: A Tool for Disaster Risk Reduction Planning at Local Government Level. International Journal of Landslide and Environment 1(1): 1-2.
• Basyal GK & Khanal NR (2001). Process and characteristics of urbanization in Nepal. Contribution to Nepalese Studies 28(2): 187-225.

Manual

• Milledge,David, Rosser, Nick, Oven, Katie, Dixit, Amod Mani, Dhungel, Ranjan Basyal, Gopi Krishna Adhikari, Sujan Raj & Densmore, Alexander (2018). Simple guidelines to minimise exposure to earthquake-triggered landslides.

Other (Digital/Visual Media)

• (2018). Action on Natural Disasters (AND) - an innovative training initiative at the Institute of Hazard, Risk and Resilience (IHRR).

Presentation

• Hiroshi Inoue, Tsuneo Ohsumi, Hiromichi Fukui, Ramesh Guragain, Gopi Krishna Basyal, Suresh Chaudhary & Sujan Raj Adhikari (2016), Damage Mapping of April 2015 Nepal Earthquake using Small UAV, presented in Final Workshop on J-RAPID-Nepal, June 21-22, 2016, Kathmandu Final Workshop on J-RAPID-Nepal. Kathmandu.

Report

• Parajuli B., Upadhyay B.K., Basyal G. K., Oli K.S., Shrestha N., Upreti N., Shrestha S. & Chaudhary S. (2012). Nepal Disaster Report 2011: Policies, Practices and Lessons. Kathmandu, Ministry of Home Affairs (MoHA), Government of Nepal; and Disaster Preparedness Network-Nepal (DPNet-Nepal) with support from United Nations Development Programme Nepal (UNDP), ActionAid Nepal and National Society for Earthquake Technology-Nepal (NSET).