Dr Lawrence Guodaar

Research Officer

Qualifications:

PhD Geography, Environment and Population, The University of Adelaide, 2021; MPhil Geography and Rural Development, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Ghana, 2015

Approved level of HDR supervision at Charles Darwin University:

Co-supervisor

Location:

Alice Springs - Charles Darwin University Campus

Lawrence Guodaar is a trained environmental geographer specialising in human-environment interaction and sustainability. Most of his research uses mixed methods to understand social and environmental systems’ resilience through developing adaptation interventions to mitigate climate change risks and improve food security. His research has included supporting vulnerable Indigenous communities in developing culturally acceptable adaptation interventions to address environmental changes and associated risks, including mental health. He has experience engaging and supporting Traditional Owners and Native Title Holders in Aboriginal communities in central Australia to make effective decisions regarding natural resource management on country. 

Lawrence’s PhD focused on the intersection between climate change, Indigenous knowledge and food security in dryland rural communities.

A Research Officer at Menzies since June 2025, Lawrence is working on an NHMRC-TCR funded project to understand how exposure to environmental stressors such as extreme heat, bushfires, floods and air pollution affects the health of Aboriginal people, and the opportunities for co-designing contextual and community-acceptable risk reduction interventions to build resilience.
 

Dr Lawrence Guodaar
Email
Research Themes
  • Climate change
  • Indigenous health
  • Primary health care and health systems research
Current projects:
  • Climate preparedness in very remote desert communities
  1. Abass, K., Dumedah, G., Dramani, A., Ofosu, A., Guodaar, L., Nyaaba, E., ... & Gyasi, R. M. (2025). ‘We live in fear and face endless physical and emotional health problems’: Perceived health implications of floods among urban households in Ghana. The Geographical Journal, e70036.
  2. Kpelle, M., Appiah, D. O., Buor, D., Addai, G., Benebere, P., & Guodaar, L. (2025). Psychosocial factors influencing coping strategies for climate change-related mental health impacts in Northwest Ghana. SN Social Sciences, 5(8), 102.
  3. Asante, F., Guodaar, L., Nyaaba, E., & Addai, G. (2024). Gendered flood risk perception and mental health of urban households in Ghana: Insights from the Oforikrom municipality. Environmental Challenges, 15, 100921.
  4. Boafo, J., Yeboah, T., Guodaar, L., Stephanie, Y., & Nyantakyi-Frimpong, H. (2024). Understanding non-economic loss and damage due to climate change in Ghana. Climate and Development, 16(2), 109-118.
  5. Guodaar, L., & Bardsley, D. K. (2024). Social networks can mitigate climate change-related food insecurity risks in dryland farming systems in Ghana. Mitigation and Adaptation Strategies for Global Change, 29(7), 73.
  6. Guodaar, L., Kabila, A., Afriyie, K., Segbefia, A. Y., & Addai, G. (2023). Farmers’ perceptions of severe climate risks and adaptation interventions in indigenous communities in northern Ghana. International Journal of Disaster Risk Reduction, 95, 103891.
  7. Guodaar, L., & Bardsley, D. K. (2021). Problematizing indigeneity in sub-Saharan Africa: implications for natural resource management. Geoforum, 127, 222-233.
  8. Guodaar, L., Bardsley, D. K., & Suh, J. (2021). Indigenous adaptation to climate change risks in northern Ghana. Climatic Change, 166(1), 24.
  9. Guodaar, L., Bardsley, D. K., & Suh, J. (2021). Integrating local perceptions with scientific evidence to understand climate change variability in northern Ghana: A mixed-methods approach. Applied Geography, 130, 102440.
  10. Abass, K., Buor, D., Afriyie, K., Dumedah, G., Segbefi, A. Y., Guodaar, L., ... & Gyasi, R. M. (2020). Urban sprawl and green space depletion: Implications for flood incidence in Kumasi, Ghana. International Journal of Disaster Risk Reduction, 51, 101915.