Professor Douglas Paton 1955- 2023

Glasgow-born Douglas Paton fled accountancy to take a BSc (Hons) in psychology at St Andrews University. He followed this with an Edinburgh University PhD on seabird behaviour, which entailed hours of observation on windy Scottish cliffs, relieved by occasional visits to composer Sir Peter Maxwell Davies' remote home in the Orkneys.

His early years in academia at Robert Gordon University in Aberdeen focused on developmental and health psychology, but after migrating to Australia in 1991 his research focus shifted to disasters and risk management, a field in which he was a leading light for over 30 years. He held posts at several universities in Australia and Aotearoa/New Zealand and, most recently, was Professor and Director of the Australasian Centre for RISC Research (Resilience Implementation for Sustainable Communities) at Charles Darwin University.

He developed and tested theories of adaptation and resilience in communities and emergency services, taking an all-hazards and cross-cultural approach to disasters. He had many international research partnerships, including with colleagues in Indonesia, Iran, Japan, Somalia, Portugal, Nepal and Taiwan, and was an Expert Advisor on Community Resilience to the World Health Organisation, helping to develop Sierra Leone's community engagement program in response to Ebola. He favoured transdisciplinary research, collaborating with others from nursing to vulcanology, and exploring how to 'decolonise' Western research on disasters to take account of cultural perspectives such as Confucianism and Indigenous worldviews. He is included in the Stanford University/Elsevier BV list of the top 2% of most cited researchers worldwide.

Dougie was the most even-tempered person I have ever known, though he would often vent his frustration about the state of our corporatised universities, with the large bureaucratic tail wagging the scholarly dog. He displayed his own resilience when, during the Covid pandemic, he was faced with a terminal diagnosis. He managed this from his home in Tasmania with characteristic equanimity and good humour, joking that there were now many things he need no longer worry about, such as getting knee replacements and finding an aged care home. Throughout, even when locked down, recovering from surgery, or managing treatments at home, he maintained virtual contact with friends, family and colleagues, continuing with collaborative research and shepherding several PhD students towards completion.        

Dougie leaves a legacy of more than 300 publications in the form of books, book chapters and peer-reviewed articles, as well as a plethora of students, colleagues and emergency workers around the world who benefited from his expertise and gentle, supportive mentoring. His final book, Advanced Introduction to Disaster Risk Reduction, was published in 2022. Thanks to his work, the world is in a better place to prepare for and address disasters such as wildfires, tsunamis, floods and earthquakes. Dougie founded the Australasian Journal of Disaster and Trauma Studies, a special issue of which will pay tribute to him through a collection of research and practice reports on community resilience to disaster, that have drawn upon his work. A scholarship has also been established in his name, based at Massey University, Aotearoa/New Zealand. 

Douglas passed away at home in April, at the time of his choosing, to the sound of Scottish pipes playing Leaving Glen Affric and surrounded by his loved ones, who toasted him with his favourite single malt whisky. He leaves behind his mother Greta, sister Brenda, partner Petra, extended family and many friends. I am very grateful to have had his friendship for almost 40 years, and will really miss that familiar twinkle in his eye.

Rosalyn H. Shute, PhD, Adjunct Professor of Psychology, Flinders University, South Australia