Professor Serwan Baban BSc(Baghdad) MSc(Baghdad) PhD Cert TL(East Anglia) FRGS FGS FRSPSoc Serwan is the Professor of Environmental Geoinformatics in the School of Environmental Science and Management at Southern Cross University. He obtained his PhD in Environmental Remote Sensing from the University of East Anglia, UK in 1991 and his MSc in Geophysics and BSc in Geology from the University of Baghdad, Iraq during 1983 and 1980 respectively. He has worked as a Research Assistant and Senior Research Associate in the School of Environmental Sciences, The University of East Anglia, UK. Then as a Lecturer and later a Senior Lecturer in Physical Geography in the University of Coventry, UK. He moved to the University of the West Indies during September 2000 to become the Professor of Surveying and Land Information and at a later date the Chairman, School for Gradate Studies and Research at the St. Augustine Campus in Trinidad. He moved to Australia to Join Southern Cross University during January 2007. His research interests are in Geosciences, Environmental Sciences and in Geinformatics (Environmental Remote Sensing and GIS). He has undertaken extensive research and consultancy work in these areas in Iraq, Morocco, Tunisia, Jordan, Malaysia, United Kingdom, USA and the Caribbean Region. Serwan has published extensively in international/national journals, international conference proceedings, and chapters in books as well as consultancy reports. He is an academic referee for scientific papers for a wide range of National and International Journals. His research has been funded by various local, regional, national and global organizations worldwide. To date, Serwan has successfully graduated, and is currently supervising a number of MPhil/PhD students and has been involved in examining MSc and MPhil/PhD student’s worldwide. Serwan founded and directed the GIS and Remote Sensing Research Utility (GRRU) Group at Coventry University, UK from 1994-2000. He also formed and directed the Center for Caribbean Land and Environmental Appraisal Research (CLEAR) at the University of the West Indies in Trinidad. Recently he has established the Centre for Geoinformatics Research and Environmental Assessment Technology (GREAT) at Southern Cross University. This Centre conducts research and consultancy in Environment-related fields underpinned by Geo-sciences.
Journal articles
Developing a GIS based integrated approach to flood management in Trinidad, West Indies (with Bheshem Ramlal), Journal of Environmental Management (2008)
Trinidad and Tobago is plagued with a perennial flooding problem. The higher levels of rainfall...
Emerging geo-imaging techniques for the management of tropical coastal environments (with Raid Al-Tahir), West Indian Journal of Engineering (2007)
Identifying critical slopes for landslide management in mountainous tropical environments using geoinformatics (with Kamal J. Sant), West Indian Journal of Engineering (2007)
Managing development in the hillsides of Trinidad and Tobago using geoinformatics (with Deborah Thomas, Francis Canisius, and Kamal J. Sant), Sustainable Development (2007)
An increase in the unmanaged development of hillsides is causing environmental, social and economic problems...
An examination of GIS success within local government departments in the U.K. and in Trinidad and Tobago (with Bheshem Ramlal), Surveying And Land Information Science (2006)
The levels of GIS use in local government departments in the U.K and in Government...
Books
Enduring geohazards in the Caribbean: moving from the reactive to the proactive, School of Environmental Science and Management Papers (2008)
Landslides and flooding in the Caribbean are destructive, endemic forces that destroy homes, businesses and...
Living with water scarcity: water resources in Jordan Badia Region, the way forward (with Nadhir Al-Ansari), School of Environmental Science and Management Papers (2001)
Conference publications
Using geoinformatics to estimate nitrate leaching to groundwater in the Azraq basin in Jordan due to human activities (with Ian Foster and Rida Al-Adamat), Sustainability of groundwater resources and its indicators: proceedings of symposium S3, 7th IAHS Scientific Assembly, Foz do lgacu, Brazil, April 3-9, 2005 (2006)
During the 20th century, the Bedu’s environment was fragmented to form parts of Jordan, Syria,...
Mapping floods in the St Joseph watershed, Trinidad, using GIS (with Ronnie Kantasingh), Regional hydrological impacts of climatic variability and change - impact assessment and decision making: proceedings of symposium s6 held during the 7th IAHS scientific assembly at Foz do Iguaçu, Brazil, April 2005 (2005)
The problem of flooding in Trinidad, and the Caribbean region, is a perennial one that...