Extreme heat is a severe problem across the globe, and its extremity is actively shaping how people live. As a result, extreme heat is being treated and governed as an emergency in several jurisdictions on the planet, centring emergency management as an institution in its governance. Previous pathbreaking research has explored the relationship between emergency management and public health and their entwined institutional histories, arguing that these institutions reinforce state power through crisis response and risk management (Collier and Lakoff, 2025). While an insightful analysis, questions remain about how institutional dynamics make those arrangements possible and how they become normalised in everyday life. To address this gap, Maegan's thesis analyses the processes that make the institutionalisation and mobilisation of emergency management logics possible, while tracing their implications for the organisations and people affected by emergency response.

About the speaker

Maegan Miccelli is a doctoral candidate at the interdisciplinary School of Regulation and Governance (RegNet) at the Australian National University. Her research concerns how emergency management networks govern climate related disasters and associated vulnerabilities. Her current PhD research explores how extreme heat is understood, shaped and governed through emergency management frameworks and institutions. Maegan is trained as a social scientist and has worked with leading Australian and international researchers, police practitioners and government agencies on projects concerned with climate adaptation, regulation and governance.

This seminar presentation is a dual-delivery event. Registration is only required for Zoom attendance. 

If you require accessibility accommodations or a visitor Personal Emergency Evacuation Plan please email regnet.communications@anu.edu.au.

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