DISASTER RESEARCH 364

April 11, 2002

TABLE OF CONTENTS:


  1. Disasters and Sustainable Development Focus of Virtual Conference
  2. Help Wanted: FEMA Seeks Earthquake Specialist
  3. On-line Instructors Urged to Fill Out E-Survey
  4. Deadline Approaching for IAEM Student Scholarships
  5. Seeking Donations: Visuals/Descriptions of Large Animal Rescues
  6. Help Wanted: IEP Professor at JSU
  7. Report Assesses FEMA's Safe Construction Networks
  8. Help Wanted: Research Position at LSU Hurricane Center
  9. Conferences and Training


1)----------

Disasters and Sustainable Development Focus of Virtual Conference

Sustainable development cannot be successful if the risks from natural hazards and their impacts are not addressed and if disaster reduction policies and measures are not implemented in ways that protect communities from future hazards. The United Nations Secretariat for the International Strategy for Disaster Reduction (UN/ISDR), as part of its 2002 World Summit activities, is sponsoring a month-long, virtual conference to explore important links between sustainable development and natural hazards. Links Between Natural Hazards, Environment, and Sustainable Development: Taking Action to Reduce the Risk to Disasters starts April 15, 2002, and is open to anyone who wishes to participate. The on-line forum will feature weekly topics based on ISDR's evolving background paper Natural Disasters and Sustainable Development: Understanding the Links Between Development, Environment, and Natural Disasters. (See http://www.unisdr.org and DR 360 at http://www.Colorado.EDU/hazards/dr/dr360.html#5). For each topic, participants will discuss key facts and trends, lessons learned, barriers to implementation and constraints, roles and responsibilities of different stakeholders, and concrete recommendations and partnership initiatives. The discussion topics include:

Results from the conference will be presented at the fourth PrepCom in Bali, May 2002, and at the World Summit on Sustainable Development (WSSD), in Johannesburg, South Africa, in August/September 2002. For more information and to pre-register, visit the Web site at http://www.earthsummit2002.org/debate/default.htm.


2)----------
Help Wanted: FEMA Seeks Earthquake Specialist

Federal Emergency Management Agency's (FEMA) Region IX seeks a Natural Hazards Program Specialist (GS-301-13) to oversee earthquake programs in the San Francisco office. The application deadline is April 29, 2002. The successful candidate will supervise earthquake programs that develop a comprehensive framework for vulnerability, preparedness, mitigation and response planning, and improved seismic building practices and standards at the federal, state, and local levels. The successful candidate will also evaluate progress of state and local capabilities, authorities, plans, procedures, training, and exercises as they relate to the emergency management process; teach workshops, training sessions, and seminars on natural hazards programs; develop and facilitate implementation of mitigation strategies, including floodplain management, in support of community disaster resistant efforts; and make presentations to promote the development and implementation of mitigation activities.

Applicants must meet the U.S. Office of Personnel Management's (OPM) basic qualification requirements (see http://www.opm.gov). Applicants should submit a resume, the Optional Application for Federal Employment (OF-612), or any other written format including the SF-171 (Application for Federal Employment) containing specific information outlined in the job announcement (for instance, job number, name, address, education and schools attended, work experience, other qualifications, etc.). The written statement should address knowledge of and experience in earthquake programs and related natural hazards and other appropriate skills.

Send applications to: Federal Emergency Management Agency, Human Resources Division/Regional Services Branch, Building E, Room 113, 16825 S. Seton Avenue, Emmitsburg, MD 21727; (800) 225-3304; fax: (301) 447-7202; e-mail: Hire.Me@fema.gov. For more information, call FEMA's Employment Opportunities hot line on (800) 225-3304 or visit FEMA's Web site at www.fema.gov. For the complete announcement and application information, visit OPM's Web site at http://jsearch.usajobs.opm.gov/ftva.asp?OPMControl=IC7261.


3)----------

On-line Instructors Urged to Fill Out E-Survey

Natural and technological disasters frequently have a major impact on the academic programs of colleges and universities. Little is known about the extent to which on-line course management/portal technology has been integrated into the emergency management plans of higher education institutions as a business continuity strategy. To collect data about this issue, researchers have posted a 17-item survey on the Internet. People associated with any college or university that use on-line instructional technology (either to supplement traditional coursework or to provide complete distance education) are requested to participate. The survey and additional details are available at http://CTLSilhouette.wsu.edu/surveys/ZS6398.


4)----------

Deadline Approaching for IAEM Student Scholarships

The International Association of Emergency Managers (IEAM) is offering scholarships to help defray educational costs of students studying the field of emergency management. The mission of the program is to assist the profession by developing students with the intellect and technical skills to advance and enhance emergency management. The 2002 IEAM Scholarship Program is open to undergraduate and graduate students pursuing a degree that includes courses in emergency management/community planning. Applicants must submit an application form (available from the IAEM Web site) and a summary of his/her professional aspirations by May 17, 2002. For more information, contact: Dawn M. Shiley, IAEM, 111 Park Place, Falls Church, VA 22046-4513; (703) 538-1795; fax: (703) 241-5603; e- mail: shiley@iaem.com; WWW: http://www.iaem.com/iaem_scholarships.html.


5)----------

Seeking Donations: Visuals/Descriptions of Large Animal Rescues

We teach a two-day course in Large Animal Emergency Rescue training and are constantly in need of pictures, news clippings, videos, and other media of any large animals in disasters (natural or man-made) or in emergencies (trailer wrecks, trenches, etc.) to use in our situational exercises for students. Visuals are great tools that can easily teach students how powerful and dangerous animals can be when they are in a scary situation. We would greatly appreciate copies of pictures, videos, news clippings, and other materials anyone would like to donate to the teaching curriculum (We promise to keep it anonymous!).

Thank you,
Rebecca Gimenez
Animal Physiology
LAR Primary Instructor
P.O. Box 661
Pendleton, SC 29670
E-mail: RebGimenez@aol.com


6)----------

Help Wanted: IEP Professor at JSU

Jacksonville State University (JSU) is accepting applications for a tenure-track position with the Institute for Emergency Preparedness (IEM). Primary teaching duties include graduate level courses in the Emergency Management concentration of the Master of Public Administration degree. Principle non-teaching duties include curriculum and program development, advising, professional development activities, and grant writing within the emergency management area. A Ph.D. in an appropriate field is required. To apply, send an application (available at http://www.jsu.edu); a resume; copies of transcripts; and names, addresses, and phone numbers of at least three references to Jacksonville State University, Human Resources, 700 Pelham Road North, Jacksonville, AL 36265. For more information about this position (Reference number 20668), see the job announcement at http://www.jsu.edu/depart/hr/jobs.html#7 or visit the IEP Web site at http://iep.jsu.edu and http://www.jsu.edu/depart/distance.


7)----------

Report Assesses FEMA's Safe Construction Networks

A new report documents how the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) successfully created and used partnerships to reach its goals of preventing and reducing hazards and their impacts by implementing mitigation methods. The Agency's transition from just responding to disasters to mitigating hazards is documented. In Leveraging Networks to Meet National Goals: FEMA and the Safe Construction Networks (William L. Waugh Jr. 2002. 44 pp.), the author analyzes, assesses, and compares FEMA's efforts to execute these new mitigation goals via public-private partnerships that promote safe construction. To reach its goals of reducing property losses and protecting lives, FEMA focused on promoting safer construction, stronger building standards and codes, and more disaster-resistant construction methods. The Agency's success in implementing mitigation strategies through indirect and more time-consuming partnership networks shows that these methods are effectuve, even in a large-scale organization like the federal government. To make it work, though, the lead agencies must, among other things, be flexible, devote time to relationship building, and be more open to working with nontraditional partners. FEMA's large community, all government executives who must partner with other sectors to implement national goals, and professors teaching emergency management courses will find this evaluation of the Project Impact Program relevant. The report is part of the PricewaterhouseCoopers Endowment for the Business of Government, New Ways to Manage Series, and is available in PDF format from PricewaterhouseCoopers' Web site at http://endowment.pwcglobal.com/publications_GrantDetails.asp?GID=114.


8)----------

Help Wanted: Research Position at LSU Hurricane Center

A Research Associate/Postdoctoral Researcher position is available within the Louisiana State University (LSU) Hurricane Center. The successful applicant will carry out research on the application of remote sensing, image processing, and geographic information sciences to disaster preparedness, response, and recovery for hurricanes, floods, and other hazards. A master's or Doctoral degree in engineering or a related discipline is required. Additional experience with remote sensing, image processing, GIS, hydrology, and hydraulics is preferred. Application deadline is May 1, 2002, or until candidate is selected. Send a curriculum vitae, a list of references, and a cover letter describing how you fit the qualifications (electronic submission preferred) to: Marc Levitan, LSU Hurricane Center, Suite 3513 CEBA Building, Louisiana State University, Ref: Log #0975, Baton Rouge, LA 70803; e-mail: levitan@hurricane.lsu.edu; WWW: http://www.hurricane.lsu.edu.


9)----------

Conferences and Training

[Below are some recent announcements received by the Natural Hazards Center. A comprehensive list of upcoming hazards-related meetings andtraining is available from our World Wide Web site: http://www.colorado.edu/hazards/conf.html]

Links Between Natural Hazards, Environment, and Sustainable Development: Taking Action to Reduce the Risk to Disasters. Hosts: United Nations Secretariat for the International Strategy for Disaster Reduction (UN/ISDR) and Stakeholder Forum for Our Common Future. On-line conference: April 15 - May 9, 2002. For details, see item 1 above. For more information and to pre-register, visit the Web site at http://www.earthsummit2002.org/debate/default.htm.

2nd Annual Disaster Resistant California Conference. Theme: "Sounding the Wake Up Call." Hosts: Governor's Office of Emergency Services (OES) and the Los Angeles Emergency Preparedness Commission (LAEPC). The conference will focus on creating disaster resistant communities and will emphasize successful systems, technologies, and strategies to implement hazard mitigation measures and programs. Industry, California: May 6-8, 2002. Contact: Governor's Office of Emergency Services, P.O. Box 419047, Rancho Cordova, CA 95741-9047; WWW: http://www.oes.ca.gov and http://rimsinland.oes.ca.gov/Operational/cpr.nsf/1?OpenPage.

No Surprises: A Regional Risk Management Seminar for Nonprofit Organizations. Sponsors: Nonprofit Risk Management Center. Seattle/Tacoma, Washington: May 7, 2002, and Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania: May 21, 2002. Contact: Nonprofit Risk management Center, 1001 Connecticut Ave., NW, Suite 410, Washington, DC 20036- 5504; (202) 785-3891; fax: (202) 296-0349; WWW: http://www.nonprofitrisk.org.

Symposium in honor of Ray Clough and Joseph Pensien. Sponsors: University of California Berkeley and Consortium of Universities for Research in Earthquake Engineering (CUREE). Sessions include finite element method, dynamics of structures, strong motion seismology, probabilistic methods, experimental simulation, structural design and retrofit, special structures, and emerging technologies. Berkeley, California: May 10-11, 2002. Contact: CUREE, 1301 S. 46 St., Richmond, CA 94804-4698; tel: (510) 231-9557; e-mail: curee@curee.org; WWW: http://www.curee.org and http://www.curee.org/conferences/CP/main.html.

Coastal Water Resources Specialty Conference. New Orleans, Louisiana: May 13-15, 2002. Sponsor: American Water Resources Association. Twenty-five oral and poster sessions will focus on estuarine water quality, coastal resources management, impacts of freshwater inflows, shoreline erosion, dredging, habitat restoration, the vanishing Mississippi delta, Puget Sound's navel shipyard impacts, and more. Plenaries will discuss current and future programs and estimated costs to restore Louisiana's coastal habitats. Contact: Kenneth D. Reid, American Water Resources Association, 4 West Federal Street, P.O. Box 1626, Middleburg, VA 20118-1626; (540) 687-8390; fax: (540) 687-8395; e-mail: info@awra.org; WWW: http://www.awra.org/meetings/Louisiana2002/.

First Regional Training Course on Earthquake Vulnerability Reduction for Cities. Sponsor: Asian Disaster Preparedness Center. Kathmandu, Nepal: May 20-31, 2002. The course aspires to provide training on earthquake vulnerability reduction strategies and methods. For more information on this course, visit http://www.adpc.ait.ac.th/training/te-evrc1.html or send an e-mail to tedadpc@ait.ac.th.

First Disaster Triennial India. Theme: Agenda for Disaster Reduction. Organized by the Joint Assistance Centre. Ahemdabad, Gujarat: June 17-19, 2002. The conference will focus on lessons learned and not learned from previous disasters and identify future steps needed to reduce disaster impacts. Agenda for Disaster Reduction, a perspective plan for the next decade, including ideas for local action, will be available at the conference. Abstracts due by May 15, 2002. Contact: Joint Assistance Centre (JAC), G-17/3 DLF City-1, Gurgaon, 122002 Haryana, India; tel: (code*)-6353833/6352141; fax: (code*)-6351308 (code*Codes: International: +91-124; Calling from Delhi: 91; Calling from rest of India: 0124); e-mail: jacindia@mantraonline.com; WWW: http://www.jacindia.org/ and http://www.jacindia.org/event.htm.

Critical Incident Stress Management Conference. Presented by International Critical Incident Stress Foundation (ICISF). Some topics include pastoral crisis intervention, domestic terrorism and weapons of mass destruction, stress management for the trauma provider, individual and advanced crisis intervention, and school crisis response. Oshkosh, Wisconsin: June 20-23, 2002. Contact: ICISF, 10176 Baltimore National Pike, Unit 201, Ellicott City, MD 21042; (410) 750-9600; fax: (410) 750-9601; WWW: http://www.icisf.org.

Lessons from the World Trade Center Terrorist Attack: Management of Complex Civil Emergencies and Terrorism-Resistant Civil Engineering Design. Sponsors: Multidisciplinary Center for Earthquake Engineering Research (MCEER), National Academy of Sciences (NAS), and the Institute for Civil Infrastructure Systems (ICIS). New York, New York: June 24-25, 2002. Contact: MCEER, Red Jacket Quadrangle, State University of New York at Buffalo, Buffalo NY, 14261; (716) 645-3391; (716) 645-3399; e-mail: mceer@acsu.buffalo.edu; WWW: http://mceer.buffalo.edu/.

International Conference on Advances and New Challenges in Earthquake Engineering Research (ICANCEER-2002). Sponsor: Asian-Pacific Network of Centers for Earthquake Engineering Research (ANCER - a new consortium committed to enhancing research, education, and technology transfer to reduce seismic hazards). The event will have two consecutive back-to-back meetings in different locations. Harbin, China: August 15-17, 2002, and Hong Kong, China: August 19-20, 2002. For Harbin conference, contact: Xiaozhai Qi, Institute of Engineering Mechanics, China Seismological Bureau, 9 Xufu Road, Harbin 150080, China; tel: 86-451-665-2625; fax: 86-451-666-4755; e-mail: qxz@iem.net.cn/ or qxz@public.hr.hl.cn . For the Hong Kong conference, contact: Jan-Ming Ko, Faculty of Construction and Land Use; The Hong Kong Polytechnic University; Hung Hom, Kowloon, Hong Kong; tel: 85-227-665037; fax: 85-223-622574; e-mail: cejmko@polyu.edu.hk. For both conference programs, registration, and other information, visit: http://www.nd.edu/~quake/ICANCEER/.

International Meeting of Mountain Cities: World Heritage Mountain Cities and Natural Hazards. Sponsors: City of Chambéry in collaboration with UNESCO's Division of Earth Sciences and the UNESCO World Heritage Centre. Chambéry, France: September 25-27, 2002. This conference is part of France's larger effort to bring attention to the fate and importance of mountains during the United Nation's International Year of the Mountain. Conference topics include: revising heritage sites management plans relative to preventing natural disasters, protecting society from natural disasters, traditional knowledge and natural hazards, and scientific knowledge and disaster risk management. Contact: Wolfgang Eder, UNESCO Division of Earth Sciences; e-mail: w.eder@unesco.org; WWW: http://www.unesco.org/science/earthsciences/.

Rescheduled: 3rd International Conference on Mapping the News: GIS and Satellite Imagery for News Organizations and NGOs. Sponsors: ESRI, National Geographic, Associated Press, and American University School of Communication. Small conference (150 cap) featuring lunch speaker James Lee Witt, former FEMA Director speaking about GIS and information access in the current emergency. Sessions include: 3-D GIS; GIS for TV and WWW news; visual reporting; environmental journalism and GIS; practical earth observation; disaster/war reporting; and more. Washington, D.C.: September 27-29, 2002 (rescheduled from April 12-14, 2002). Contact: Conference organizers; (202) 885-2037; e-mail: simpson@american.edu; WWW: http://www.american.edu/radiowave/newsmapping.

The 1st International Training Course on Earthquake Disasters and Disaster Mitigation for Developing Countries. Sponsors: Ministry of Science and Technology (MOST), Commission on Earthquake Hazard, Risk and Strong Ground Motion (SHR), IASPEI, Asian Seismological Committee (ASC), and Seismological Society of China (SSC). The course consists of four parts: lectures, practice and visits, discussion and exchanges, and summary. Participants will present papers to the training session, and a seminar will address developing national seismic observation systems and countermeasures and experiences in seismic hazard mitigation. Qualified papers will be published in English in the special volume of the peer-reviewed, regional journal Earthquake Research. Beijing, China: October 6-20, 2002. For more information, contact: Su, Xiao-Lan, 5 Minzudaxuenan Road, IGCSB, Beijing 100081, China; tel: 86-10-6846-7978 or 86-10-6841-7859; fax: 86-10-6841-5372; e-mail: suxl@eq-igp.ac.cn; WWW: http://www.icce.ac.cn/most/workshop.htm.

7th Annual New Mexico Environmental Health Conference. Albuquerque, New Mexico: October 28-30, 2002. Topics of special interest include "Emergency, Disaster, and Anti-terrorism Preparedness: Response and Technology." Abstracts are due April 19, 2002. Contact: Tom Duker, NMEHC-2002, P.O. Box 27176, Albuquerque, NM 87125-1716; (505) 924- 3667; fax: (505) 924-3684; e-mail: tduker@mercury.bernco.gov

Second International Conference on Irrigation and Drainage. Theme: "Water for a Sustainable World - Limited Supplies and Expanding Demand." Sponsor: United States Committee on Irrigation and Drainage. Phoenix, Arizona: May 12-15, 2003. Submit abstracts by July 1, 2002. Contact: U.S. Committee on Irrigation and Drainage, 1616 17 St., Suite 483, Denver, CO 80202; (303) 628-5430; fax: (303) 628- 5431; e-mail: stephens@uscid.org; WWW: http://www.uscid.org and http://www.uscid.org/uscid_a.html.

Rescheduled: The Third International Conference on Continental Earthquakes (ICCE). Beijing, China: Sometime after July 2003 (rescheduled from September 16-19, 2002). The Conference is postponed until after the Saporro 2003 IUGG Assembly, June 30-July 11, 2003, (see http://www.jamstec.go.jp/jamstec-e/iugg/) to make it more convenient for participants from outside eastern Asia. Contact: Wang Zhiqiu, Organizing Secretary, III ICCE, China Seismological Bureau (CSB), No. 63, Fuxing Avenue, 100036, Beijing, China; tel: 86-10- 8801-5514; fax: 86-10-6821-0995; e-mail: icce@peoplemail.com.cn; WWW: http://www.icce.ac.cn.


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