BA(Hons) (Leiden) LLM (Edinburgh) PhD (Otago)
Contact
Email ben.tombs@otago.ac.nz
Office 9th Floor – 9C11
Teaching
Ben teaches property law.
Research interests
Ben researches the legal aspects of climate change impacts. Topics include climate adaptation, damage and loss, local council liability, resource management, hazards risk, disaster risk reduction, emergency management, managed relocation and New Zealand climate change legislation.
Background
Ben joined the faculty in 2026. His PhD ‘Property Purgatory’ (2023) examined insurance retreat and local council liability ahead of climate change induced damages. Postdoctoral research assessed the disconnect between emergency post-disaster inquiries and pre-emptive hazard management implementation. Separate postdoctoral research examined how Geospatial Information Systems (GIS) can illustrate historical landowner choices under the Climate Change Response Act 2002.
Ben has worked with Māori research organisation Takarangi Research Ltd and the Environmental Defence Society. Both roles focused on integrating climate risk, monitoring and adaptation planning tools with local authority resource management functions.
Publications
Dudley Tombs, B. (2023). Property purgatory (PhD). University of Otago, Dunedin, New Zealand. Retrieved from http://hdl.handle.net/10523/15720 Awarded Doctoral Degree
Dudley Tombs, B., Stephenson, J., France-Hudson, B., & Ellis, E. (2021). 'Property purgatory'. Policy Quarterly, 17(1), 50-56. Journal - Research Article
Ellis, L., Stephenson, J., France-Hudson, B., & Dudley Tombs, B. (2020). Wellington flooding a Covid recovery reminder. Newsroom: Ideasroom, (22 April). Retrieved from https://www.newsroom.co.nz/greenroom/2020/04/22/1138362/wellington-flooding-a-covid-recovery-reminder Journal - Professional & Other Non-Research Articles
Dudley Tombs, B., & France-Hudson, B. (2018). Climate change compensation: An unavoidable discussion. Policy Quarterly, 14(4), 50-58. Journal - Research Article