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FEMA's Emergency Management Institute (EMI) released its course catalog for 2002-2003 resident courses. Resident courses are those that are scheduled on-campus at FEMA's facility in Emmitsburg, Maryland. Course offerings range from simulations and exercises to classes on mitigation and preparedness. Application and eligibility information and a detailed schedule are available by calling (800) 238-3358; e-mailing emi@fema.gov; or accessing the EMI web site: http://www.fema.gov/emi.
The conference will focus on how flood losses have been reduced and land and water management practices have improved since the Great Midwest Flood 10 years ago. Abstracts are due October 18, 2002. Complete information about topics, submissions, and guidelines may be found at http://www.floods.org/StLouis.
In consultation with states, local governments, and federal agencies, FEMA has developed a web site to provide multi-hazard advisory maps for at least five states. The maps identify and overlay hazard data for a variety of natural hazards for the purpose of showing areas where the hazards overlap. The web site is the outgrowth of a multi-participant demonstration project in conjunction with the Open GIS Consortium (OGC) to establish a standards-based framework of interoperable services. Called the Multihazard Mapping Initiative (MMI), the site is managed by FEMA's Federal Insurance and Mitigation Administration (FIMA).
The vision of MMI is to foster the exchange of geospatial hazards data, increase hazard awareness, encourage data providers to establish standards-based services that facilitate data sharing and map creation, make FEMA spatial data available on the Internet in map form, and allow FEMA access to outside spatial data that is critical to its daily operations.
The site can be found at http://www.hazardmaps.gov/atlas.php.
Restoring Assumptions of Safety and Control Following the 2001 Terrorist Attacks. Funding: National Science Foundation, $33,872, 12 months. Principal Investigator: Suzanne Thompson, Pomona College, Alexander Hall, Claremont, CA 91711; e-mail: sthompson@pomona.edu.
Forces of Nature: A Large-Format Film. Funding: National Science Foundation, $2,158,846, 33 months. Principal Investigator: Lisa Truitt, National Geographic Television, 1145 17th Street, N.W., Washington, DC 20036; (202) 857-7000; e-mail: ltruitt@ngs.org.
Predicting the Future: The Science and Technology of Weather Forecasting. Funding: National Science Foundation, $2,048,027, 48 months. Principal Investigator: Cary I. Sneider, Museum of Science, Science Park, Boston, MA 02114; (614) 723-2500; e-mail: csneider@mos.org.
National High School Space Weather Network. Funding: National Science Foundation, $20,730, 12 months. Principal Investigator: Mark B. Moldwin, University of California, Los Angeles, 10920 Wilshire Boulevard, Los Angeles, CA 90024; (310) 794-0102; e-mail: mmoldwin@igpp.ucla.edu.
The Ninth East Asia-Pacific Conference on Structural Engineering and Construction (EASEC-9) will be held on December 16-18, 2003 in Bali, Indonesia. The conference is hosted by the Department of Civil Engineering, Institut Teknlogi Bandung, Indonesia.
Colleagues from academia and practitioners in structural engineering and construction are invited to submit papers for the conference. Abstracts are due by December 2, 2002. Provisional acceptance will be sent by December 31, 2002, and the deadline for receipt of complete papers is May 1, 2003.
The conference theme, Embracing Challenges in the 21st Century, highlights the need for immediate regional cooperation and collaboration among engineers, educators, and researchers. More information is available at http://www.si.itb.ac.id/easec9.
The National Research Council (NRC) has been requested to review the National Science Foundation's Network for Earthquake Engineering Simulation (NEES) program and offer recommendations for conducting a long-term research program. In response to that request, the NRC assembled an independent panel of experts, the Committee to Develop a Long-term Research Agenda for NEES, under the auspices of the Board on Infrastructure and the Constructed Environment (BICE).
In order to obtain input from as broad a segment of the multiple stakeholder communities for the NEES program as possible, the committee is issuing a general request for comment. The committee's tasks, information about its activities, and the scope of comments, along with instructions about how to enter comments, are available at http://www7.nationalacademies.org/besrcomment/.
The comment period will end on October 7, 2002. For questions or additional information, contact: Richard Little (202) 334-3376; or Keri Moore: (202) 334-2744; or e-mail: nees@nas.edu.
The Corporation for National and Community Service (Corporation) is seeking to fund national providers of training and technical assistance to Corporation programs that are using volunteers to support homeland security.
Subject to the availability of appropriations, the Corporation will award approximately $600,000 to support one or more organizations to provide training and technical assistance to national and community service programs engaged in homeland security activities that focus on public safety, public health, and disaster preparedness and relief. The funded organization(s) will identify and maintain a network of geographically dispersed experts and organizations around the country and create a mechanism for sharing these resources with local programs in need of assistance. The funded organization(s) will provide training and technical assistance materials to Corporation programs and projects engaged in homeland security activities.
Agreements will be in place for up to three years, beginning on or about December 1, 2002. Proposals must be received by 5:00 p.m. Eastern Standard time, on November 4, 2002. The Corporation will announce award recipients in December 2002.
For further information, contact: Gina Fulbright-Powell or Wade Gatling: (202) 606-5000, ext. 414; e-mail: gfulbrig@cns.gov or wgatling@cns.gov. The complete text of the notice is available on the Corporation's web site: http://www.nationalservice.org/whatshot/notices.
The Disaster Management and Sustainable Development Program is looking for a research associate or fellow to carry out socio-behavioral research in support of infectious disease risk management in Mozambique and Bangladesh. The majority of the work for this position will be centered on cholera research. A social-science oriented Ph.D. with experience in participatory development and community-based approaches to health in Africa and/or Asia is helpful, as is the ability to speak Portuguese.
Interviews begin on October 4, 2002, and will continue until a suitable candidate is found. For more information, see http://online.unn.ac.uk/central_departments/vacancies/vac_detail.asp?VacancyID=309; or e-mail: hrjobs@unn.ac.uk.
[Below are some new or updated Internet resources we've discovered. For an extensive list of useful Internet sites dealing with hazards, see http://www.colorado.edu/hazards/sites/sites.html]
http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/disastersandemergencypreparedness.html#generaloverviews
The U.S. National Library of Medicine (NLM) has created a new Internet section on disasters and emergency medicine. The site is part of NLM's MEDLINEplus web site, and has a number of interesting links and articles.
http://www.goinginternational.org
This web site, which calls itself the "information platform in medicine and public health," contains a new on-line section, a "course catalog" of more than 2,500 programs, courses, and international meetings, as well as course content information and contact information for all course organizers. Topics range from disaster management and emergency medicine to humanitarian assistance and more. Printed copies are also available for $29.00. Please see http://www.goinginternational.org/english/b2.htm for complete ordering information.
http://earthquake.usgs.gov
The Earthquake Hazards Program with the U.S. Geological Survey has recently upgraded its web site to feature near-real-time Advanced National Seismic System (ANSS) recent earthquake maps. The site has been extensively reorganized to provide more accessible information that is usually posted within minutes after an earthquake.
[Below are some recent announcements received by the Natural Hazards Center. A comprehensive list of upcoming hazards-related meetings and training is available from our World Wide Web site: http://www.colorado.edu/hazards/conf.html]
Gambling with Geologic Hazards. Hosts: Association of Engineering Geologists and the American Institute of Professional Geologists. Reno, Nevada: September 22-29, 2002. If you are interested in more information, please see http://www.aegweb.org/indexf.html.
Innovations in Disaster Psychology: Psychosocial Aspects of Responses to Terrorist Attacks. Sponsor: Disaster Mental Health Institute (DMHI) of the University of South Dakota. Rapid City, South Dakota: September 29-October 1, 2002. For more information: (800) 522-9684; http://usd.edu/dmhi/conf02.
Workshop on Advanced Emergency Management: Learning from History. Sponsor: Emergency and Disaster Management, Inc., in cooperation with the International Association of Emergency Managers. Columbus, Ohio: October 11, 2002. Complete information may be found at (310) 649-0700; http://www.edmus.info/.
National Council of Structural Engineers Associations (NCSEA) Tenth Annual Conference. Chicago, Illinois: October 17-19, 2002. Conference presentations include sessions on the World Trade Center and the National Institute for Standards and Technology (NIST) investigation into the World Trade Center collapse. Conference information may be obtained from (312) 751-8100; http://dwp.bigplanet.com/engineers/homepage/.
How to Create a Business Continuity Plan...That Works! Sponsor: Disaster Survival Planning Network. Los Angeles, California: November 13, 2002. This one-day workshop is designed specifically for professionals in both public and private sectors who want to learn current best practices for creating business continuity plans. If you are interested in obtaining more complete information, contact Judy Kennedy; (800) 601-4899; e-mail: jkennedy@dspnetwork.com; http://www.disaster-survival.com.
Dissertations Initiative for the Advancement of Climate Change Research (DISCCRS) Symposium. Sponsors: American Geophysical Union, American Meterological Society, American Society of Limnology and Oceanography, Ecological Society of America, and Whitman College. Puerto Rico: March 10-15, 2003. To register with DISCCRS, or for complete symposia information including eligibility, deadlines, and how to apply, contact C. Susan Weiler; (509) 527-5948; e-mail: weiler@whitman.edu; or see the following web site http://aslo.org/disccrs/disccrsposter.pdf.
Seismological Society of America (SSA) 98th Annual Meeting. Host: University of Puerto Rico. San Juan, Puerto Rico: April 30-May 2, 2003. For more conference information, e-mail: christa@rmsismo.uprm.edu; or view the following web site http://ce.uprm.edu/SSA-2003/.
Strategies for Performance in the Aftermath of the World Trade Center. Sponsors: International Council for Research and Innovation in Building and Construction (CIB) and the Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat (CTBUH). Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia: May 8-10, 2003. This international conference will provide the opportunity for authorities and stakeholders to discuss and exchange information on performance issues and strategies for enhancing the performance of tall buildings during emergencies. If you are interested in more information e-mail cibkl@cibklutm.com or see http://www.cibklutm.com.
13th World Conference on Disaster Management (WCDM). Sponsors: Canadian Centre for Emergency Preparedness. Toronto, Canada: June 22-25, 2003. The theme for this conference is "The Changing Face of Disaster Management - New Threats, New Approaches." Abstracts are due by December 16, 2002. For complete conference information, contact Adrian Gordon:(905) 319-4034; e-mail: agordon@ccep.ca or visit http://www.wcdm.org/.
Fifth International Conference on Case Histories on Geotechnical Engineering. Sponsor: University of Missouri-Rolla Civil Engineering Department. New York, New York: April 13-17, 2004. This meeting will provide a forum for geotechnical professionals from around the world to present their research findings. To obtain more details, please see http://web.umr.edu/~eqconf/5thCHConf/.
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