Ignacio Aguirre Ayerbe is a geographer and MSc in Disaster Risk Management (DRM), with complementary training and experience in CCA. He is a researcher and senior consultant at the Coastal Management and Engineering Research Group - IHCantabria, Spain. In his nearly 15 years of career so far at IHCantabria, he has worked with several institutions and governments on multiple projects related to Disaster Risk Management and Planning, Tsunami Evacuation Planning, Vulnerability and Adaptation to Climate Change, Integrated Coastal Zone Management and Coastal Planning, including activities related to participatory processes, capacity building, communication, and dissemination.

He is particularly interested in integrating scientific and technical developments into national and local policy, management, disaster risk management and coastal management strategies and plans while considering at all stages the knowledge, skills and specificities of people and livelihoods at the community level. He has carried out this consultancy and research work in several countries, such as Antigua & Barbuda, Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Cyprus, Dominican Republic, Jamaica, Saint Vincent & the Grenadines, Trinidad & Tobago, El Salvador, Indonesia, Maldives, Myanmar, Oman, Paraguay, Peru, Qatar, Sri-Lanka, The Philippines, Tunisia, Spain, European Union (EU) and the United Kingdom.

His work, research and consultancy activities also include several conference proceedings and publications in scientific journals and he usually collaborates with several international institutions related to risk management, being vicechair person of the IOC UNESCO Intergovernmental Coordination Group of the NEAMTWS region (ICG/NEAMTWS), has collaborated with the United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Management (UNDRR), the Disaster Risk Management Centre of the European Commission (DRMKC), and is member of some relevant associations in the field, such as the Global Tsunami Modelling Network (GTM).