Niki Beyer Portner

Niki Beyer Portner works at a civil engineering office in Switzerland, where she is responsible for hydraulic engineering (drinking water supply, wastewater management, natural hazards). In the context of natural hazards, she focuses on pluvial flooding.

Niki studied civil engineering at the Swiss Institute of Technology in Lausanne (EPFL). Her first job application at an engineering office was rejected, with the reasoning that they previously “had already hired a woman”. Instead, Niki completed a PhD on pluvial erosion in mountainous areas in the context of reservoir sedimentation at the Hydraulic Institute at EPFL. After her PhD, Niki co-founded an engineering office specialised in hydraulic engineering and numerical modelling. As the office oversaw many 2D models for natural hazard mapping in Switzerland, Niki was introduced to natural hazard assessment and became very interested in this field.

In 2005, Niki became a member of the Technical and Scientific Advisory Board of INTERPRAEVENT, a platform to share experience and knowledge in the field of natural hazards. As a board member, she is responsible for the technical and scientific programme of the INTERPREAVENT conferences. A memorable anecdote from one of the INTERPRAEVENT conferences was when Niki arrived in Tokyo and mistook a woman holding a “Niki Beyer” sign for an enthusiastic organizer, only to learn her luggage was lost—leaving her to attend the gala dinner in her hiking boots.

Niki has always fought for equal rights and opportunities for women and men. Being part of a women’s network for DRR is an ideal combination of her profession and her personal commitment to gender issues. Niki joined we4DRR at the founding event in 2016, where she was invited to become a Steering Committee member to strengthen the link between the two networks, we4DRR and INTERPRAEVENT.