Farshad Hesamfar is a Ph.D. student at the University of Virginia with expertise in water resources optimization, focusing on integrating Low Impact Development (LID) and Green Infrastructure (GI) to enhance urban flood management systems. He completed his studies in Civil and Environmental Engineering at the Amirkabir University of Technology (Tehran Polytechnic), titled as the top student of the whole school. During his master’s, he submitted two Q1 journal articles on the evolutionary multi-objective optimization fields and trade-off between different objectives in resource allocation. He is interested in the application of the multi-objective evolutionary algorithm to trade-offs between equity, efficiency, and environmental preservation. His research interests include trade-off analysis, sustainable management, multi-criteria decision-making, and simulation-based multi-objective optimization. His research aims to integrate broader social dimensions, such as stakeholder involvement and equitable access to flood mitigation benefits.

Giuseppe is a Ph.D. student at the Università Politecnica delle Marche, Department of Life and Environmental Sciences, specializing in Civil and Environmental Protection. From April to December 2024, he was hosted by the DRC as a visiting scholar, where he conducted research for his dissertation project. His research focuses on the relationship between emergency management and Information and Communication Technology (ICT), with particular emphasis on the role of crowdsourced data, such as social media content and emergency calls (e.g., 911 and 112), in disaster response. The aim of his research is to demonstrate the value of the information layer generated by Public Safety Answering Points (PSAPs) as a hazard and risk monitoring system.

During his time at DRC, Giuseppe had the honor of presenting at the workshop for DRC’s 60th anniversary and collaborating with internationally renowned researchers, enriching both his academic and professional experience.

Adam is a 2025 graduate of the Disaster Science and Management Ph.D. program. He currently works as an Emergency Management Specialist at the University of Delaware where he:

• Has led the effort to certify the University as a StormReady® University,
• Updated emergency plans,
• Participated in exercises to test and improve institutional response processes,
• Delivered critical weather-related decision support and situational awareness during high-profile events.

While at the University of Delaware, he was a Research Assistant on multiple DRC projects, including CRISP, LEAP HI, and CHEER. He was also involved in the creation of the “Risk Communication: How to improve risk communication during a public health crisis” DRCIt!

He also served as the President of the Biden School Student Association for two years and Vice President of the UD IAEM student chapter.

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Ömer Cem Karacaoğlu is a faculty member at the Faculty of Education, Aydın Adnan Menderes University. He recently completed his postdoctoral research project (2025) at the University of Delaware Disaster Research Center (UD-DRC) in the United States, supported by TÜBİTAK, where he developed a skills-based disaster literacy scale and a digital disaster curriculum to advance disaster education. His academic work primarily focuses on disaster literacy, environmental awareness, teacher competencies, and digital/online education.

Dr. Karacaoğlu has led multiple research and development initiatives at Technopark İzmir, collaborating with industry partners on educational software solutions. He has also coordinated projects funded by Erasmus+, TÜBİTAK, and Technopark, reflecting his strong record of attracting competitive grants. Beyond research, he actively contributes to public and professional education by delivering seminars and workshops on disaster preparedness, environmental sustainability, artificial intelligence competencies for teachers, and technology integration in education. His contributions span curriculum development at both national and international levels, with a strong emphasis on bridging research, practice, and policy in education and disaster awareness.

Cornelia Posch graduated from the Disaster Science and Management program in the summer of 2025, with the doctoral thesis “Virtual Refuge and Curbside Support”, studying improvisation in Delaware public libraries during the COVID-19 pandemic.
During her tenure at the DRC, she worked as a Graduate Research Assistant at the E.L. Quarantelli Resource Collection, putting her library degree and professional experience to good use for projects like the COVID Collections or the re-classification and physical re-organization of the library.
Cornelia served as co-chair on the AIC Emergency Committee, and she is a National Heritage Responder. Even though she moved back to Europe after graduation, she continues to work with these groups from afar and is currently focused on networking and establishing herself as part of the cultural heritage and emergency management community in her home country of Austria.

 

Justin Jacoby Smith is an independent disaster researcher and political organizer now based outside Houston, Texas. After earning a Bachelor’s in English at Texas State University in 2008, Justin moved northeast and became a participant in Occupy Wall Street and its associated movements, initiating a decade of political organizing geared toward generating collective action. Through organizing, eight years of communal life with the Love+Solidarity Collective, and his studies at the DRC, his research interests matured to include the processes and ingredients of disaster solidarity, mutual aid disaster relief, and the political economy of the disaster cycle.

I’m a recent hire in the EDHS department at UMBC.

Zackery White recently received his Ph.D. in Epidemiology from the University of Delaware, where he worked to complete his project “Common biases in studying the long-term health effects of disasters: challenges & potential solutions.” While there, Zack was awarded the University of Delaware’s Doctoral Fellowship for Excellence in Teaching. Currently, he works at a health technology company, Unite Us, designing research studies examining the efficacy of their work in local communities.

Dr. Michael Michaud is the Risk Communication Scientist with the New York State Weather Risk Communication Center, where he facilitates operationalizing social science research into weather forecasting and communication. Michael holds a Ph.D. in Disaster Science and Management from the University of Delaware, where he conducted research with the Disaster Research Center on the use of social science within various National Weather Service operations, weather decision-making, the impacts of COVID-19 on local communities and higher education decision-making. He earned a Master of Education in Educational Leadership and Policy from the University of Utah and a bachelor’s degree in Atmospheric Science from Lyndon State College (now Vermont State University). Michael was previously a Research Scientist with the Emergency and Risk Communication Message Testing Laboratory at the University at Albany, conducting research on television warning message design, and has worked in various other higher education roles. He is also the current chair of the American Meteorological Society Board on Societal Impacts.

Christopher is a doctoral candidate in the department of political science and international relations. In his dissertation, he asks: “What might sovereignty mean in a place without formal state sovereignty or national self-determination?” He attempts to locate sovereignty in its diversity of articulations by examining the specific postcolonial context of Puerto Rico, theorizing sovereignty as a political-economic process rather than mere status. Hurricane Maria exposed poverty, environmental injustice, and differential vulnerability; but since the Verano Boricua mass unrest in 2019, a debate has opened for the need for a left-wing, anti-austerity transformation of the island based on a new politics—the people mobilized against the establishment. Christopher has presented his research on emergency politics and disaster neoliberalism at domestic and international conferences. He is affiliated with the Disaster Research Center at the University of Delaware because of his interdisciplinary focus on disaster governance. Christopher has studied emergency management through Delaware Emergency Management Agency. He is presently serving as Treasurer for the University of Delaware Chapter of the International Association of Emergency Managers.

Yajaira is a Ph.D. student in the Disaster Science and Management program. She earned her Master’s degree in Disaster Studies from the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley where she also worked as a Research Assistant. During this time she worked at the Department of Health and Biomedical Sciences researching mechanisms to address health and social disparities in vulnerable populations of the US-Mexico border. Yajaira’s educational and research backgrounds have provided her with a rich understanding of the social conditions that exacerbate vulnerability in times of disasters. As she continues her education, her interests still lie in social inequality, vulnerability, and resilience.

Colten J. Strickland is the COVID-19 Epidemiology and Surveillance Manager for the San Francisco Department of Public Health.  He received his BS in Philosophy with a minor in Peace and Justice Studies from Utah Valley University in 2013, his MPH in Disaster Management from Tulane University in 2015, and his PhD in Epidemiology from the University of Delaware in 2022.  Colten was the founding doctoral student of the Epidemiology program at the University of Delaware and first epidemiology student of the DRC.  During his program, Colten responded to the COVID-19 pandemic in his role as the lead COVID-19 Epidemiologist for the Delaware Division of Public Health from 2021-2022 and as a COVID-19 Epidemiologist for the Philadelphia Department of Public Health from 2020-2021.  Prior to the start of his program, Colten was a Public Health Associate (Class of 2016) for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. He was assigned to the Multnomah County Health Department in Portland, Oregon where he worked on childhood immunizations.  Colten has several years of experience working in governmental public health.  His research largely focuses on applied epidemiology, disaster epidemiology, and environmental health.  His dissertation is titled “A Review of COVID-19-Associated Mortality in the City of Philadelphia Over the First Year of the COVID-19 Pandemic.”  Colten is an active and supportive member of the LGBTQ+ community.

Nancy Rios-Contreras is an Assistant Professor of Sociology in the Wilkinson College of Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences at Chapman University. She is a William Averette Anderson Fund (BAF) alumna. Nancy received her Ph.D. in Criminology from the University of Delaware. She won the George Herbert Ryden Prize in the Social Sciences for her dissertation, “Lo Único que Queremos es una Oportunidad de Vida [All WE Want is an Opportunity of Life]: Intersecting Migrant Experiences en Route to the United States-Mexico Borderlands.” Her most recent work in Tijuana, Baja California, explores border disasters and uses a methodological framework entitled Border Participatory Action Research (Border PAR). Nancy’s research interests include borders and migration, community adaptations to disasters, race and ethnicity, criminalization, and qualitative methods.

Samantha Penta is an Assistant Professor in the College of Emergency Preparedness, Homeland Security and Cybersecurity at the University at Albany, State University of New York. She received her B.A. in Sociology and History in 2011, her M.A. in Sociology in 2014, and her Ph.D. in Sociology in 2017, all from the University of Delaware. While at UD, Sam worked as a research assistant at the Disaster Research Center working on projects examining evacuation and preparedness challenges for long-term care facilities, disaster donations behavior, and community recovery and resilience to disasters and epidemics. Sam’s research focuses on health and medical issues in crises, decision-making in preparedness and response, and humanitarian logistics. Her most recent work examines the processes involved in planning and implementing international crisis medical relief efforts, focusing on health and medical responses to the 2015 Nepal earthquake and the 2014-2016 Ebola epidemic in West Africa. She specializes in qualitative research, and has participated in multiple quick response field research deployments, including to New York City following Superstorm Sandy, the Oklahoma City area following the May 2013 tornadoes, Florida leading up to Tropical Storm Erika, and Nepal after the 2015 earthquake.

Mr. Anthony Cario joined All Hands and Hearts in 2018 and is a member of the IT team. In his current role as a Project Lead, he is responsible for managing the redesign of the operational data system. The project will increase data quality and facilitate more effective operations when working with communities impacted by disasters.

Since earning his degree in Disaster Science and Management from the University of Delaware (MS ’16), Anthony worked in various roles supporting disaster response and recovery missions as a technical specialist and data analyst. Anthony is an active member of the Water Youth Network’s Disaster Risk Reduction working group. Anthony received a B.S. in Management and a B.S. in Marketing from the University of Delaware in 2010. In 2016, he received an M.S. in Disaster Science and Management from the University of Delaware. While completing his graduate degree, Anthony worked as a Research Assistant at the Disaster Research Center, assisted emergency management activities with the University of Delaware Office of Campus; Public Safety, and interned with the United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNISDR) in Geneva, Switzerland. Following graduation, Anthony worked as a Technical Assistance Specialist for IMPAQ International (2016-2017). In this role, he supported the Crisis Counseling Assistance and Training Program, a federally funded program that responds to the behavioral health needs of disaster survivors.

Paige currently serves on the executive leadership team at DEMA. She previously served as a Planning Supervisor for the Natural Hazards section in which managed state disaster recovery and mitigation planning efforts, including the state Public Assistance program, Individual Assistance program, and Long Term Recovery efforts.She has also supervised the Terrorism Preparedness section, during which time she oversaw the strategic purchases of equipment, training, exercises, and programs throughout the state to help reduce risk and increase readiness and resiliency across the state. She has also served as the Exercise Coordinator in the Training & Exercise section, in which she planned and coordinated HSEEP-compliant state-level exercises in support of Homeland Security Grant Program objectives.Finally, Paige serves as a Program Administrator for the DEMA sUAS Program and previously as the Chairwoman of the State UAS Training and Certification Steering Committee. In these roles, she sets training standards and teaches flight courses for public safety agencies throughout Delaware. She is also an instructor of Emergency Management at Delaware Technical & Community College.

Mary Nelan is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Emergency Management and Disaster Science at the University of North Texas. She earned her MA in Sociology from the University of Texas at El Paso (UTEP) in 2011, and in May 2010 she traveled to Haiti to volunteer as a relief worker after the earthquake 4 months earlier. It was this experience that drew her to disaster research and informed her Master’s Thesis on international disaster volunteers. During her Ph.D. studies at the University of Delaware, Mary worked as a Research Assistant at the Disaster Research Center where she was a member of several projects funded by the National Science Foundation. As part of her research, she conducted quick response fieldwork following Hurricane Sandy and the May 2013 Oklahoma tornadoes. Her time at the Disaster Research Center provided experiences and training that she continues to use in her current position.

Mary’s current research focuses on convergence behavior in the response phase of disasters. Her research has addressed international disaster volunteers, and donation behaviors in the United States.

Since graduating from UD, Benjamin has worked in several consulting positions developing disaster response plans for Ebola, nuclear terrorism, nuclear power plant emergencies, power outages, and hurricanes, as well as publishing research on climate change adaptation in urban areas, presenting on climate change as a threat multiplier at a NATO conference, and helping the City of Austin establish an alternate care site for COVID-19.

His current role includes enhancing several of FEMA Region 3’s response plans, researching climate change adaptation for the FEMA Hazard Mitigation Grant Program, and coordinating the international practice area for SPIN Global. His professional interests include climate change adaptation, emergency management technology (e.g., GIS, social media), organizational management/leadership, and policy development. Find him online at www.linkedin.com/in/bendwallace.

Dr. Chang earned his Ph.D. from University of Delaware in Disaster Science and Management and his master’s degree from Arizona State University in Fire Service Administration. His research interests are in disaster response and fire service administration-related topics. His goal is to develop the theoretical foundation and integrate his working experience in both Taiwanese and American fire departments for the Incident Command System (ICS) in order to strengthen its practical applications. By combining his educational training with his practical background, Dr. Chang hopes to bridge the gap between academics and practitioners, and believes his Asian heritage and cross-cultural training will benefit disaster management systems in the United States and around the world.

Dr. Alex Greer is an Assistant Professor in the College of Emergency Preparedness, Homeland Security and Cybersecurity at the University at Albany. Alex earned his Ph.D. in Disaster Science and Management from the University of Delaware, where he worked as a research assistant at the Disaster Research Center.

Alex conducts interdisciplinary, mixed methods research on a number of topics related to disaster science. His research interests include hazard adjustments, relocation decision-making processes, and organizational culture. Some of his current research projects include a National Science Foundation funded study exploring earthquake adjustment in Oklahoma, a Quick Response project studying buyouts in the wake of Hurricane Harvey, and a study funded by the International Association of Fire Chiefs investigating organizational culture and leadership in the fire service. He has engaged in quick response fieldwork after a number of events, including the Pawnee earthquake of 2016, Moore tornado of 2013, Hurricane Sandy in 2012, and the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami.

Danielle Nagele currently serves as an associate program officer in the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. She works with Resilient America Roundtable members and fellow staff to build community resilience through partnerships, research, and engagement. Before joining the National Academies, Dr. Nagele worked in the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). She served as a social scientist in the Program Planning and Integration (PPI) office and a risk communication specialist in the National Ocean Service (NOS).

Dr. Nagele received her B.S. in meteorology from Millersville University and her M.S. in atmospheric science from Texas Tech University. In May 2015 she graduated from University of Delaware with a Ph.D. in Disaster Science and Management. Her research focus areas were public response to severe weather warnings and organizational culture among warning system organizations.​

Colonel Jim Goetschius (Ph.D. ’14) serves as the Deputy Commander for the U.S. Army Health Facility Planning Agency (HFPA) in Falls Church, Virginia. He is also the Army Surgeon General’s Health Facilities Planning Consultant responsible for recruiting, training, and retaining subject matter expertise in the health facility planning career field. Before his current assignment, Jim served as HFPA’s Director, Project Execution Division where he led a global team of professionals in executing the U.S. Army’s $6.6 billion medical facility capital investment program serving more than 3.9 million beneficiaries. He was also responsible for the execution of $1.8 billion in initial outfitting and transition requirements.

Jim is a veteran of the conflicts in Afghanistan, Iraq, and Kosovo, where his responsibilities included the design-build of the theater hospital at Balad Airbase in Iraq and the construction of the multinational hospital at Camp Bondsteel in Kosovo. He is certified an urban planner by the American Institute of Certified Planners, designated a Level II Certified Acquisition Professional in Facilities Engineering by the Army Acquisition Corps, and credentialed as a Defense Support of Civil Authorities Specialist.

Jim is an active volunteer leader with Team Rubicon and serves as their Logistics Manager for Maryland and Delaware.

Anne is a Newark, DE native currently living on a small South Jersey farmstead and working in Philadelphia, PA. She earned her undergraduate degrees in Interpersonal Communications and Sociology with an Emergency and Environmental Management concentration from the University of Delaware in 2012 (minoring in Spanish). Since graduating from the DISA program, Anne has had a rather eclectic career-path working both abroad and in the US. She first served a year as an Americorps VISTA volunteer supporting New Jersey Voluntary Organizations Active in Disaster (NJVOAD) recovery efforts 2 years after Hurricane Sandy. On the side, she worked with the Hillsborough Township NJ Engineering Department to build a cohesive GIS-mapping compatible data-set for their storm water management locations. After that she spent 4 months in 2016 with Conscious Impact Nepal doing administration, outreach and sustainable earthquake-resistant construction in a rural village outside Kathmandu during the aftermath of the April 2014 earthquake. An avid cyclist, she returned to Newark in 2017 for 6 months to co-manage the Newark Bike Project’s store-front before flying back to Asia to manage Global Vision International (GVI)’s Asian-elephant conservation and alternative livelihoods project in Chiang Mai, Thailand. She then returned to Conscious Impact Nepal for another month in 2018 to assist with their risk management and financial development efforts. After another 6 months working as the Business Development Coordinator for the Newark Bike Project (and guest-moderating the UD DISA Grad Sudent Forum), she entered the professional world of risk management and insurance claims at Sedgwick CMS Inc in October 2018. There, she earned her Associate in Risk Management (ARM) certification while handling “personal disasters” for injured workers in PA, NJ and VA. From there she hopes to make her way into disaster risk resilience expert consulting. She hopes to earn her doctorate and use her expertise to help others effectively handle whatever life throws their way.

Chunjing Liu (M.S. ’14) is the Chief of Staff for the Department of Marine Forecastand Disaster Mitigation in China’s State Oceanic Administration. Her responsibilities include formulating effective policy, planning and maintaining technical standards for marine disaster mitigation, guiding and coordinating emergency response to coastal natural hazards at the national and local level, managing and organizing marine disaster risk assessment and investigation programs, enhancing public awareness of marine disaster mitigation and prevention, and participating in international programs for marine disaster mitigation.

Chunjing was a Fulbright Scholar at the University of Delaware. The knowledge and skills around disaster management she honed in her study in the M.S. program and working in the Disaster Research Center (DRC) have provided strong support to both her work and career development. Before she joined SOA China, she had worked as marketing and strategic product manager in Advantech and Siemens companies for six years. Her bachelor’s degree in Automation was from the Wuhan University of Technology in 2010.​