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Investments in partnering, communication and infrastructure key to preparedness

Profiles of five students providing solutions to prevent terrorism

(June 6, 2007)

Hamilton Bean – A Ph.D. candidate in organizational communication at the University of Colorado and member of the START Center of Excellence, Bean is developing a project entitled, “The Role of Homeland Security Information Bulletins within Emergency Managements Operations.” His research has looked at the receipt of homeland security emergency bulletins by Emergency Management Coordinators and organizational enactment upon the information received. Given that response by an organization is dependent upon individual and collective experience, as well as priorities and world views, among other things, bulletin producers should be more cognizant of their audiences and offer aid in understanding the significance of a threat and ways to prepare for it.

Sara Clark – A member of the CREATE Center, Clark presented her work in a poster presentation at the DHS Student & Alumni Day on May 23, in Washington, D.C. Earning a master’s degree in urban planning, Clark studies at the New York University-Wagner School. Her research focuses on the spatial concentrations of critical infrastructure systems such as dams, bridges and transportation hubs. By comparing the concentration of these systems to population density and the concentration of vulnerable populations, patterns of vulnerability emerge.

Michael Dunaway – Dunaway is in the Doctoral Program in Crisis, Disaster and Risk Management at George Washington University. Seeking to strengthen community resilience, he is the founding chairman of the Chesapeake Critical Incident Partnership (CCIP), a public-private sector organization operating in Annapolis, Maryland. He is determining the level of private sector emergency / continuity planning, and what programs would gain business community support. His research has been guided by Brit Weber of the Michigan State’s Department of Criminal Justice and his project entitled, “Critical Incident Protocol.” Dunaway is a START Center member, a senior engineer for ITS Corporation, and works at the Office of Naval Research in Arlington VA.

Jennifer Gustetic – Congratulations to Jennifer on completing her master’s degree in technology policy this spring at MIT. Her thesis looked at the creation of partnerships for emergency preparedness and response and defined attributes that must be considered in order to later design effective and sustainable partnerships. Her research has resulted in the development of 22 lessons for architects of partnerships and ten lessons for policy makers. Jennifer was a 2003 DHS Fellow.

Ashley Nellis – As a START Center of Excellence Pre-doctoral Fellow, Nellis is examining how the public receives and copes with terrorism-related information. Her interviews of adults in New York City and Washington, D.C., have indicated that, among other things, a fearful public will not respond appropriately to a future attack. In addition, her data gathering has determined that false alarms generate growing distrust of the government, and that the media is an important source of terrorism news for the public. Nellis is completing her Ph.D. in criminal justice at American University.