Allison Hardin, CFM tried to retire in 2022 after 30 years of progressive levels of service and responsibilities in local governments of coastal South Carolina, but was drawn back in by her love of helping others. Her experience includes regional and urban planning, GIS mapping and coordination, floodplain management, hazard mitigation planning, business operations, emergency services, and planning agency supervision. She has been a longstanding partner in, and supporter of, NOAA's Digital Coast project; chaired both the SC Association for Hazard Mitigation and state ArcGIS users groups; and nationally, served four years as a Coastal Issues co-chair for the Association of State Floodplain Managers (ASFPM) and six years in leadership (including chairmanship) in the American Planning Association's (APA) Hazard Mitigation/Disaster Recovery Planning Division. During her years of volunteer leadership, she and her teams received multiple awards, including APA Divisions Council Achievement Awards in Communications Efforts (2019) and Best Practices (2020), the Louthain Award from ASFPM, an SC Planning Advocacy award, and Public Service Employee of the Year from the City of Myrtle Beach. Allison celebrates 20 years as a Certified Floodplain Manager (CFM) in 2023, and is currently Director of Development Services (Building, Planning, Stormwater, and Zoning) for Lancaster County, SC.

Carolyn J. Harshman, CEM is President of Emergency Planning Consultants located in San Diego, California. Since 1984, Ms. Harshman has provided emergency management plans, training, and exercises to a wide range of governments, including public educational institutions. Professional services include: hazard and vulnerability assessments, recovery and reconstruction plans, hazard mitigation plans, emergency response plans, needs and capability assessments, continuity of operations plans, catastrophic plans, grant writing, trainings, and exercises. Carolyn has enjoyed two careers – one in land use planning with the City and County of San Diego and one in emergency management beginning as a hazard planner for the County of San Diego’s Office of Emergency Services. Ms. Harshman holds a Master of Public Administration Degree and is a Certified Emergency Manager (CEM) as conferred by the International Association of Emergency Managers.

Bruce Houghton is the Gordon MacDonald Professor in Volcanology at University of Hawaii at Manoa, the Hawaiian State Volcanologist, and a Fellow of the Royal Society of New Zealand. He is the Science Director at the National Disaster Preparedness Training Center and the lead developer for AWR-233, the "Volcanic Crises" awareness course. He trained at University of Auckland, University of Otago, and Ruhr-Universitat Bochum. Bruce has published over 200 research papers in international journals and was an editor of the Encyclopaedia of Volcanoes in 2000 and 2015. His recent research has expanded to include interdisciplinary studies of tsunami and volcanic disasters funded by the Human and Social Dynamics and Hazards SEES initiatives in NSF.

Dennis Hwang is Faculty at the University of Hawai'i Sea Grant College Program where he authored several books including the Hawai'i Coastal Hazard Mitigation Guidebook, which is used in the land use process in Hawai'i. After Hurricane Katrina, he helped produce the Louisiana Coastal Hazard Mitigation Guidebook for the Louisiana Sea Grant College Program, Louisiana Department of Natural Resources and FEMA. He was also the lead author for the Homeowners Handbook to Prepare for Natural Hazards which was produced in Hawai'i, and has been modified with other Sea Grant Programs for Mississippi, Alabama, Florida, Texas, Louisiana, Delaware, Massachusetts, Republic of the Marshall Islands and Guam. Dennis participated with the FEMA Building Science Branch in assessing damage from Hurricane Harvey for the Mitigation Assessment Team "MAT" Report. He currently is working on the 4th Edition of the Homeowner's Handbook, which has a climate change component. In addition, he is tasked with putting a Communication & Education Outreach Plan for hazard preparation for the Hawaii State Legislature. Dennis has his Bachelor of Science in Geology from the University of Rochester, Master of Science in Geology & Geophysics from the University of Hawai'i and Jurist Doctorate from the University of Houston, where he concentrated in land use and property law. He is a member of the State of Hawaii Earthquake and Tsunami Advisory Committee, Hawai'i State Bar Association, and is a Court appointed arbitrator.