Photo caption: Nellie Evison - 2026 UC Master of Laws graduate.
A comparative study by Te Whare Wānanga o Waitaha | University of Canterbury (UC) Master of Laws graduate Nellie Evison found that legal protections and emergency response provisions for utility workers after disasters in New Zealand and the United States were often voluntary or not explicit.
"Utility workers are essential to restoring power, water and other critical services after a disaster, and they can face many of the same hazards as emergency responders. Having clear legal protections helps to keep them safe, clarifies responsibilities and supports a faster, more coordinated recovery," Evison says.
Working with QuakeCoRE, a Centre of Research Excellence that aims to improve earthquake resilience, along with the specialist knowledge Evison developed through her research, have helped launch her career. Before graduating, she secured a Wellington-based role at the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (MBIE) as an advisor in incident management and emergency management.
Evison believes her familiarity with New Zealand's Coordinated Incident Management System was a key factor in gaining her role at MBIE.
"I looked at it a lot during my master's, so the theoretical knowledge I acquired through my research has been directly applicable to what I am doing," she says.
Her team helps build emergency management and business continuity capability across MBIE and supports incident management teams during local and national responses. Evison has already put her knowledge into practice in the logistics function during responses.
While she is not working as a lawyer or providing legal advice, Evison says her UC Law education prepared her for a career extending well beyond conventional legal practice. "The writing, research and critical thinking skills you learn throughout an undergraduate degree and master's are applicable to so many different jobs," she says.
Evison's pathway into disaster law began while she was studying Law alongside Environmental Science and Geography at UC.
Professor John Hopkins and Associate Professor Toni Collins introduced her to the Institute of Law, Emergencies and Disasters (LEAD) programme and her summer research project examining the New Zealand context, which grew into her master's research.
Professor Hopkins says as the world's only Disaster Law research centre, LEAD provides unique opportunities for young researchers to work with senior researchers, and both international and domestic experts in organisations engaged with disaster risk reduction and management, allowing students to explore how disaster law and governance works in practice. "Nellie's experience shows how this collaborative approach can develop specialist knowledge, professional connections and practical skills that translate directly into an emergency management career."
Through LEAD, Evison became part of a postgraduate community and developed connections with disaster resilience researchers. She also presented her early research at an international conference hosted by the Faculty of Law with the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies and the support of the United Nations.
"Creating those relationships and connections throughout your master's can have a great impact on your professional development and career," Evison says.
She hopes to use her skills to strengthen emergency preparedness in Aotearoa New Zealand, particularly by helping organisations act on what previous events have revealed.
"The readiness phase is so crucial, and I hope I can help turn the lessons we identify during a response into outcomes that actually make a difference," she says.
