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The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) has engaged nine experts in fields ranging from transportation and water infrastructure to societal dimensions of disasters to further its ongoing effort to draft a disaster resilience framework for U.S. communities.
Recognized leaders in their fields, NIST's new disaster resilience fellows were chosen to complement the knowledge and skill sets of agency researchers developing the framework—a guidance document to help communities prepare for hazardous events and to restore vital functions quickly if disruptive incidents occur.
The fellows also will assist NIST staff in establishing a Disaster Resistance Standards Panel. With initial funding from NIST, this independent body will be responsible for updating the framework and identifying new priorities for standards development and other actions that will help communities to better prevent natural and human-caused hazards from becoming disasters.
Listed under their area of expertise, NIST's new disaster resilience fellows are:
Community Resilience Planning
Chris Poland, Chris D. Poland Consulting Engineer, Canyon Lake, Calif.
Electrical Power Infrastructure
Erich Gunther, EnerNex, Knoxville, Tenn.
Stuart McCafferty, GridIntellect, Huntsville, Ala.
Emergency Planning and Response
Jay Wilson, Hazard Mitigation Program Coordinator, Clackamas County, Ore.
Societal Dimensions of Disasters
Liesel A. Ritchie, University of Colorado Boulder, Natural Hazards Center, Boulder, Colo.
Transportation Infrastructure
Joseph Englot, HNTB, New York, N.Y.
Theodore Zoli, HNTB, New York, N.Y.
Water Infrastructure
Kevin M. Morley, American Water Works Association, Washington, D.C.
Donald Ballantyne, Ballantyne Consulting LLC, Seattle, Wash.
For more information on the fellows and the NIST-led community disaster resilience effort, go to: www.nist.gov/el/building_materials/resilience/.
To support development of the disaster resilience framework, NIST is convening regional workshops to solicit input from diverse stakeholder groups. The next workshop will be held Oct. 27-28, 2014, in Norman, Okla. Go to the registration site.