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Research funding available . . .
The Natural Hazards Center is soliciting proposals for its FY 2000 Quick Response (QR) program.
The QR program enables social scientists to conduct short-term research immediately after a disaster in order to collect information that might otherwise be lost. Persons interested in conducting analyses that can only be accomplished by being at the scene of a disaster soon after an event, should submit a brief proposal describing that research. If a proposal is approved, a researcher is then eligible to receive funding to carry out his or her investigation should an appropriate disaster occur in the subsequent 12 months. Grants average $1,000 to $3,000 and essentially cover travel expenses only. In return, grantees must submit reports of their findings, which are published by the Natural Hazards Center both via its Web site and in hard copy.
Details about proposal submission requirements can be obtained by requesting a 2000 QR Program Announcement from Mary Fran Myers, Co-Director, Natural Hazards Center, Campus Box 482, University of Colorado, Boulder, CO 80309-0482; (303) 492-2150; fax: (303) 492-2151; e-mail: myersmf@colorado.edu. The program announcement is also available from the center's World Wide Web site at http://www.colorado.edu/hazards/qr2000.html. The deadline for proposal submission is October 15, 1999.
Recent QR reports are also available from the center's Web page: http://www.colorado.edu/hazards/qr/qr.html.
The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) through its Emergency Management Institute (EMI) in Emmitsburg, Maryland, is beginning development of a training activity on "Special Events/Mass Gatherings Contingency Planning." Because most communities across the country host some type of special event or mass gathering, EMI considers this project to be very important.
EMI is seeking input from emergency service personnel who have been involved in this type of planning effort and is looking for the following types of information:
A two-year research project managed by the British Red Cross is studying non-governmental organization (NGO) activities in the field of natural disaster mitigation and preparedness, principally in developing countries. The project now has its own Web site - http://www.redcross.org.uk/ (see the section "Our Work" and then "International Activities") - where you can read and download an outline of the project and the position paper written at the end of its pilot phase. Further information will be posted on the site between now and September 2000 when the project ends. Anyone having ideas or information to share with the research team can send them to the project's e-mail address: dmp@redcross.org.uk.
Greetings. I have been asked to participate as a member of our local
LEPC in an annual chemical drill. I am searching for information,
articles, ideas on the psychological aspects of a chemical emergency.
Can you help me? I would appreciate ANY references, contacts, etc.
Thank you,
Sam D. Bernard
E-mail: BERNARD423@aol.com
Dear Masters,
I am a general physician in Iran. I want to know about health care
personnel's duties when an earthquake occurs.I need especially
information on preparing food and managing environmental problems for
vulnerable populations. Please guide me. I look forward to hearing
from you.
Yours Sincerely,
M. Haghighi, M.D.
E-mail: mahasti420@dpir.com
[Adapted from the LSU Hurricane Center Newsletter, Vol. 1, No. 1]
The world is at ever-increasing risk from hurricanes and tropical cyclones. Population growth and global migration patterns toward at-risk coastal areas, increased development and urbanization of the coastal zone, long-term climactic trends, and other factors combine to expose growing numbers of people to hurricane threats. Although improved forecasting and warning systems have generally reduced the number of fatalities associated with hurricanes in the developed world, developing nations can still suffer casualties measured in the tens of thousands during severe storms. In the U.S. and the rest of the world, annual monetary losses due to tropical cyclones have been increasing at an exponential pace.
Ongoing research conducted at Louisiana State University (LSU) ranks Louisiana among the states most vulnerable to hurricanes, and consequently scientists and engineers at LSU have undertaken a coordinated effort to address hurricane issues by launching the LSU Hurricane Center. The center will focus on issues relating to the Gulf Coast and Atlantic states but will also offer assistance to other vulnerable locations, including those in other nations. Indeed, LSU has already initiated a program to assist Honduras in its reconstruction following Hurricane Mitch.
The mission of the LSU Hurricane Center is to advance the state-of-knowledge related to hurricanes, incorporating the three forces of academia: education, research, and service. The LSU Hurricane Center synthesizes extensive university expertise to greatly enhance individual research efforts. Perhaps more importantly, the center will ensure that the resulting information and technology is made accessible to resource managers and emergency preparedness decision makers.
The new center is thoroughly described in the first volume of its new newsletter, which also supplies pertinent information about hurricane hazard mitigation, relevant Web pages, etc., and information concerning the current hurricane season.
For information on the LSU in Honduras Program, contact Bruce Sharky, Department of Landscape Architecture, Louisiana State University; (225) 388-1441; fax: (225) 388-1445; e-mail: lasharky@aol.com.
For information on the LSU Hurricane Center, contact Dr. Marc Levitan, Acting Director, LSU Hurricane Center, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Louisiana State University; (225) 388-4445; fax: (225) 388-8652; e-mail: levitan@eng.lsu.edu.
To subscribe to the LSU Hurricane Center Newsletter, contact Dr. Ivor van Heerden, Acting Deputy Director, LSU Hurricane Center, c/o Louisiana Geological Survey, P.O. Box G, University Station, Baton Rouge, LA 70893; (225) 388-5974; fax: (225) 334-2527; e-mail: ivheerd@unix1.sncc.lsu.edu
NASA's Global Change Master Directory (GCMD) staff is pleased to announce the release of its newest Master Directory, MD7, via the World Wide Web at http://gcmd.nasa.gov.
The GCMD is a source of information about data available in the earth and environmental sciences. Descriptions of data sets provide scientists and the general public with information on how to obtain data and frequently a link to the data source. More than 17,000 links are maintained within the directory's descriptions, which cover government agencies, universities, research institutions, and scientific research programs around the world.
This new release includes:
[These are some of the latest and more useful Internet resources we've encountered. For an extended list of selected Internet sites dealing with hazards and disaster management, see http://www.colorado.edu/hazards/sites/sites.html]
http://www.eqnet.org
The recently overhauled EqNET Web site - a comprehensive gateway
to earthquake information on the World Wide Web - includes a special
section listing Web sites with information about the recent Izmit,
Turkey, earthquake.
http://www.interaction.org/turkey/index.html
Of course there are many other sites on the Web that are providing
information about the response to the massive earthquake in Turkey.
(We've found the major news services and Web indexes - such as CNN and
Yahoo - to be the most useful and up-to-date). This URL offers a list
of nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) providing aid in that country.
http://md.water.usgs.gov/drought
Because the mid-Atlantic region of the United States is suffering
its worst drought in 30 years, the USGS has developed this new Web
site - Drought Watch '99 - to monitor water levels and rain prospects.
The drought, according to USGS, will probably go down as one of the
region's three worst droughts this century. The site was launched in
June, is updated every 4 hours, and includes information about water
levels and rainfall trends nationwide at
http://md.water.usgs.gov/drought/us.html.
http://www.hsph.harvard.edu/faculty/reich/donations/
Faculty at the Harvard School of Public Health recently conducted
a study of medical donations for emergencies and proposed uniform
standards for drug donations in such situations. Professor Michael
Reich's review of corporate pharmaceutical donations for relief in
Armenia, Haiti, and Tanzania found that inappropriate donations were
not as pervasive as anecdotal reports had previously suggested; up to
two-thirds of drug types were specifically requested by the countries
they went to. Still, roughly 6% of the drugs were due to expire in 100
days or less. The complete report is available from the URL above.
http://www.nssl.noaa.gov/resources/wxresource.html
Via this address, the National Severe Storms Laboratory (NSSL)
now provides a Resource Listing for Weather and Climate Instruction
on the World Wide Web. This document was developed to assist those who
teach weather and climate at any educational level by listing some of
the available instructional resources. The site includes sections on
"Career Guidance," "General Instruction," " Audiovisual," "Print,"
"Instruments/Equipment," "Software," "Data Sources," "Professional
Organizations," and "Additional Resource Contacts," as well as a list
of abbreviations and acronyms.
A ten-member team from the Earthquake Engineering Research Institute (EERI) has reached Istanbul and is carrying out a field investigation of the devastating earthquake that struck western Turkey, near Izmit, an industrial city of 1 million people, approximately 55 miles southeast of Istanbul.
The team, supported by the National Science Foundation as part of EERI's Learning from Earthquakes Program, is expected to spend approximately one week in the field and will provide preliminary information to EERI's members and others via the EERI Newsletter and Web site. For more information on this reconnaissance investigation or to link to other information sources for this earthquake, visit the EERI Web site: http://www.eeri.org.
More information is also available from EERI, 499 14th Street, Suite 320, Oakland, CA 94612-1934; (510) 451-0905, fax: (510) 451-5411; e-mail: eeri@eeri.org.
[Taken from PAHO's DisasterInfo e-mail list. To subscribe, send a message to disaster@paho.org.]
You're invited to visit the Pan American Health Organization's (PAHO's) new Virtual Disaster Library (VDL) at http://www.paho.org/english/ped/pedhome.htm. The VDL is an on-line collection of disaster publications that boasts:
The VDL is a project of PAHO in collaboration with the Regional Disaster Documentation Center (CRID) and the International Decade for Natural Disaster Reduction (IDNDR). For more information please contact disaster-publications@paho.org.
The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) has announced World Wide Web availability of the Survey's Publications Database. The on-line database includes comprehensive bibliographic information on USGS reports and maps published from 1880 to the present and references for non-USGS publications with USGS authors published from 1983 to date - a total of approximately 110,000 publications. Each reference includes searchable keywords and some have abstracts. The text of the USGS documents is not included; however, access to on-line publications of the Survey is provided.
The database is a searchable subset of the GeoRef database produced and owned by the American Geological Institute and was created under contract with the USGS. Free public access to the database is provided as a public service by the USGS at http://usgs-georef.cos.com.
Innovative ideas for projects that will lead to national guidelines and pre-standards for improving the ability of lifelines to resist natural hazards are being sought by the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) in concert with the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), as part of the two organizations' "American Lifelines Alliance" (see DR#298). Lifelines include utility and transportation systems, and the natural hazards to be considered include earthquakes, severe winds (including tornadoes and hurricanes), snow, and extreme temperature.
Project ideas may address 1) the transformation of well-established industry practices into national consensus guidelines, and 2) outreach programs to encourage implementation of natural hazards risk reduction measures. Of particular interest are ideas that 1) improve the current state-of-practice within various lifeline industries, 2) apply to both new and existing lifeline systems, 3) can potentially generate monetary and in-kind support from industry, 4) develop procedures and results that can be readily transformed into national consensus standards by a standards developing organization, and 5) are currently under development and can be expedited by ASCE/FEMA support.
Project descriptions that involve basic or applied research will not be considered. However, innovative ideas that receive a favorable review may result in a competitive Request for Proposals.
Responses are due September 7. They should be limited to three pages, including an estimated budget and schedule. The estimated budget for any given project should be less than $100,000. Responses will become public record.
For more information, contact Thomas R. McLane, ASCE, 1801 Alexander Bell Drive, Reston, VA 20191; (703) 295-6151; e-mail: tmclane@asce.org: WWW: http://www.asce.org/aboutasce/alaoverv.html.
[Adapted from IAFC On Scene - the newsletter of the International Association of Fire Chiefs]
Following the release of a Blue Ribbon Panel report and subsequent recommendations for improving the U.S. Fire Administration (USFA), the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) responded by forming an Action Plan Development Working Group to address the issues raised in the panel's report (see DR#273). The group subsequently prepared a business plan that was released to the public on August 2 and is now open for public review and comment through September 15.
The draft report of the USFA Action Plan, which includes almost 150 recommendations to re-establish the USFA as a leader in fire prevention and education, may be downloaded from the USFA Web site - http://www.usfa.fema.gov. Comments may also be submitted via that site. Alternatively, they can be sent to Rich Marinucci, Acting Chief Operating Officer, USFA, 16825 South Seton Avenue, Building N, Room 103, Emmitsburg, MD 21727.
FEMA has issued a proposed rule to apply full National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) premium rates to structures that have suffered multiple flood losses and whose owners decline funding to mitigate future losses. Comments can be submitted until September 7. Interested persons should contact Howard Leikin, Federal Insurance Administration, (202) 646-7970. For complete text of the proposed rule, see the Federal Register, August 5, pp. 42632-42633.
The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) is presently recruiting an architect/engineer (GS 12/13) to work with its building sciences group. This position is housed in FEMA's Washington, D.C., headquarters within the Mitigation Directorate's Program Policy and Assessment Branch, Program Assessment and Outreach Division. The person in this position serves as an engineer or architect, responsible for the development of program policies, policy guidance, technical standards, and technical guidance on strategies to minimize the risk of damage to the built environment from natural hazards such as earthquakes, floods, wind, or fire. He or she works with others to identify research and development needs in the areas of flood- and wind-resistant design and construction practices, provides technical support to FEMA's Emergency Management Institute in the development of technical training, and supports disaster operations by responding to building science needs of Emergency Response Teams and Emergency Support Teams as assigned. He or she also supports disaster operations as a member of the agency's Building Performance Assessment Teams, and acts as the project officer in the development of new technical publications on natural hazard mitigation.
For more information about this vacancy, contact Carolyn Nelson-Ballard at (202) 646-3244. A complete vacancy announcement (as well as a listing of numerous other employment opportunities with FEMA) is available from the FEMA Web page: http://www.fema.gov/career.
The Department of International Health and Development, School of Public Health, Tulane University, New Orleans, Louisiana, is recruiting a faculty member (rank is flexible, a tenure track option is possible) to develop its teaching and research programs in the area of complex emergencies/disaster studies.
Qualifications: Terminal degrees in relevant fields or extensive field experience in the management of complex emergencies/disasters and demonstrated excellence in practice are required. Familiarity with information technology applications is desirable. Commitment to and experience in program building are also desirable. Fluency in French and/or Spanish is desirable, as is expertise/experience in the regions of Sub-Saharan Africa and/or the Americas.
Responsibilities: Participating in the development of a complex emergency/disaster studies training and research program. Specifically, developing curricula for traditional and non-traditional education and training programs, as well as teaching courses in the areas of complex emergencies/disaster studies. Developing a funded research program consistent with the departmental framework, participating in international collaborative networks, and advising students.
The position is open until filled. An application letter outlining career objectives and relevant experience, a CV, and three references should be sent to Dr. Nancy Mock, Search Committee Chair, 1440 Canal Street, Suite 2200, New Orleans, LA 70112; tel: (504) 587-7318. Tulane University is an Affirmative Action/Equal Opportunity Employer, and qualified women and minorities are encouraged to apply.
[Adapted from the IAEM Bulletin - the newsletter of the International Association of Emergency Managers]
The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) has recently published Who's in Charge Here: Exercising Leadership in an Emergency or Disaster - a six-hour training course on CD. The course is designed for chief elected officials and others who have limited time for training but need to prepare themselves for leadership during a crisis. For copies, call the FEMA Distribution Center, 1-800-480-2520; request ID #9-1442, course code G351.
The Earthquake Engineering Research Institute (EERI) is actively soliciting nominations for the 1999 Shah Family Innovation Prize. Created with a substantial gift to the EERI Endowment Fund by the Haresh Shah family of Stanford, California, this $10,000 prize is awarded to a younger professional or academic for creativity, innovation, and entrepreneurial spirit in the field of earthquake risk mitigation and management. The prize recognizes and honors one or more younger individuals (less than 35 years old) who has/have been involved in the development of cutting-edge, innovative solutions to problems in earthquake engineering and related disciplines. Selection will reward creative and innovative thinking by those who have demonstrated at early stages in their careers the potential to make major contributions to the field of earthquake risk mitigation and management.
Persons wishing to nominate a candidate for this prize, should contact EERI, 499 14th Street, Suite 320, Oakland, CA 94612-1934; (510) 451-0905, fax: (510) 451-5411; e-mail: eeri@eeri.org, and request a brochure that describes the nomination process. Nominations are due September 15th.
[For a list of many of the research grants awarded in the last several years, see http://www.colorado.edu/hazards/grants.html]
Tornado Shelter Options and Shelter-Seeking Behavior of Mobile Home Residents. Funding agency: National Science Foundation. $84,040, 18 months. Principal Investigator: Thomas W. Schmidlin, Department of Geography, 413 McGilvrey Hall, Kent State University, P.O. Box 5190, Kent, OH 44242-0001; (330) 672-3227; fax: (330) 672-4304; e-mail: tschmidl@kent.edu
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has published Inventory of Watershed Training Courses, which provides one-page summaries of 180 watershed-related training courses. Copies are available free by calling 1-800-490-9198 (specify document #EPA 841-D- 98-0901), or they can viewed on the EPA's Watershed Academy Web site: http://www.epa.gov/OWOW/watershed/wacademy/catalog.html.
[Below are some recent announcements received by the Natural Hazards Center. A comprehensive list of upcoming disaster-related meetings and training is available from our World Wide Web site: http://www.colorado.edu/hazards/conf.html]
Note: The American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) offers numerous continuing education seminars, many of which deal with aspects of natural hazards management. For example, the seminars include: "FEMA National Flood Insurance Program," "Applications in Storm Water Management," "Seismic Design and Performance of Building Structures," Earthquake Induced Ground Motions," "Wind Loads for Buildings and Other Structures," and several other disaster-relevant courses. The seminars are offered in various locations around the country throughout the year. For a complete list, see http://www.asce.org/conted/index.html
Seismic Design Manual Seminar. Offered by the Structural Engineers Association of California (SEAOC). San Francisco, California: September 9 and September 16, 1999. Contact: Structural Engineers Association of Northern California, 74 New Montgomery Street, Suite 230, San Francisco, CA 94105; (415) 974-5147; fax: (415) 764-4915.
International Congress on Seismic Risk. Armenia, Colombia: September 16-17, 1999. Sponsor: University of Quindio/Association of Engineers of Quindio. Contact: Professor Leonardo Cano; e-mail: lcano@cocora.uniquindio.edu.co.
International Symposium on Engineering Geology, Hydrogeology, and Natural Disasters, with Emphasis on Asia. Sponsor: Nepal Geological Society, International Association of Engineering Geology, and others. Kathmandu, Nepal: September 28-30, 1999. Contact: Nepal Geological Society, P.O Box 231, Kathmandu, Nepal; fax: +977-1-41-6870; e-mail: ngs@wlink.com.np.
1999 Annual Meeting of the Australian Earthquake Engineering Society and Seminar: 10th Anniversary of the Newcastle Earthquake - Lessons Learnt. Sydney, Australia: September 29-30, 1999. Contact: B. Butler; fax: 03 9348-1524; e-mail: b.butler@civag.unimelb.edu.au.
National Institute for Chemical Studies (NICS) National Conference on Protecting the Public During Chemical Emergencies. Concord, California: October 4-5, 1999. Call: 1-800-282-2796; fax: (304) 346- 6349; e-mail: nicsinfo@aol.com; WWW: http://members.aol.com/nicsinfo.
Third Caribbean Conference on Natural Hazards. Host: Caribbean Disaster Emergency Response Agency (CDERA). Barbados: October 13-15, 1999. Contact: CDERA, The Garrison, St. Michael, Barbados; tel: (246) 436-9651; fax: (246) 437-7649; e-mail: cdera@caribsurf.com; WWW: http://www.cdera.org.
71st Annual Meeting of the Eastern Section, Seismological Society of
America. Memphis, Tennessee: October 18-20, 1999. Includes a special
session on "Mid America Seismic Hazard Mapping." Abstracts are due
September 15. For details, see http://www.ceri.memphis.edu/ or
http://www.seismosoc.org/.
Regarding the special session, contact:
Buddy Schweig, Central U.S. Coordinator, Earthquake Hazards Program,
U.S. Geological Survey, Campus Box 526590, University of Memphis,
Memphis, TN 38152-6590; (901) 678-4974; fax: (901) 678-4897; e-mail:
schweig@ceri.memphis.edu.
Earthquake Hazard and Risk in the Mediterranean Region. Nicosia, Cyprus: October 18-22, 1999. Abstracts due August 30. Contact: Professor Huseyin Gokcekus, Chairperson of the Technical and Organizing Committee, Near East University, Nicosia, North Cyprus, via Mersin-10, Turkey; tel: 0090-392-2235427; fax: 0090-392-2236461; e-mail: ghuseyin@cypronet.net, ghuseyin@neu.edu.tr, or earthquake@neu.edu.tr; WWW; http://www.neu.edu.tr/earthquake.
Annual Conference of the Indiana Association for Floodplain and Stormwater Management. Angola, Indiana: October 20-22, 1999. Contact: Donna Price; (317) 327-5459; fax: (317) 327-5174; e-mail: dprice@indygov.org.
Business Recovery Managers Symposium: A Strategic Summit on Contingency Planning, Y2K Disaster Mitigation, and Disaster Management and Response. Offered by: MIS Training Institute. San Diego, California: November 2-4, 1999. Contact MIS Training Institute, 498 Concord Street, Framingham, MA 01702-2357; (508) 879-7999; fax: (508) 872-1153; e-mail: mis@misti.com; WWW: http://www.misti.com.
Annual Water Resources Conference of the American Water Resources Association (AWRA). Seattle, Washington: December 5-9, 1999. Contact: AWRA, 950 Herndon Parkway, Suite 300, Herndon, VA 20170-5531; (703) 904-1225; fax: (703) 904-1228; e-mail: awrahq@aol.com; WWW: http://www.awra.org.
World Water Congress 2000. Sponsors: International Water Resources
Association (IWRA) and others. Melbourne, Australia: March 11-17,
2000. Contact: IWRA, 4535 Faner Hall, MC 4516, Southern Illinois
University, Carbondale, IL 62901-4516;
or
Secretariat, World Water Conference, c/- ICMS Pty Ltd, 84 Queensbridge
Street, Southbank, Victoria 3006, Australia; tel: +61 3 9682 0244;
fax: +61 3 9682 0288; e-mail: worldwater@icms.com.au; WWW:
http://www.icms.com.au/worldwater.
2000 National Flood Conference. Presented by: Federal Emergency Management Agency/National Flood Insurance Program. Austin, Texas: May 7-10, 2000. The organizers are currently soliciting program ideas and proposals. Suggestions are due September 3, 1999. They should be sent to and additional information is available from: Becky Reardon, National Flood Insurance Program, Bureau and Statistical Agent, 7700 Hubble Drive, Lanham, MD 20706; fax: (301) 918-1471; e-mail: becky.reardon@fema.gov; WWW: http://www.fema.gov/nfip/2000conf.htm.
International Conference on Climate Change Communication. Sponsors: Climate Change Action Fund, Environment Canada, University of Waterloo. Kitchener-Waterloo, Ontario, Canada: June 22-24, 2000. Presentation proposals are currently being solicited and are due December 15, 1999. Abstracts can be submitted via the Internet, by either e-mail - c3confer@fes.uwaterloo.ca - or the World Wide Web - http://geognt.uwaterloo.ca/c3confer/. More information about the conference is available from the Web site.
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