Paul Manson is a researcher with Portland State University's Center for Public Service (CPS). His research focuses on increasing the effectiveness of public involvement in thinking about life after a disaster event, and how communities can plan for an uncertain future. Recent research efforts include applied community planning workshops and public opinion surveys on disaster recovery planning. Paul also develops demographic and spatial tools for disaster response. Paul is also a PhD candidate at Portland State. His dissertation research is focused on the multi-year Oregon Territorial Sea Plan update – a marine spatial planning effort to resolve conflicts among many ocean users via a technologically mediate participatory GIS system. His applied work includes the development of coastal viewshed assessment protocols and tools to support communities participating in marine spatial planning. Paul is an Oregon Sea Grant Fellow and a NSF Integrative Graduate Education and Research Traineeship (IGERT) Fellow. Paul started his work in emergency preparedness in the Civil Air Patrol in Alaska and continues to be engaged in his own community supporting preparedness.

Irvin R. Mason, Sr. is currently the Training Coordinator for the Virgin Islands Territorial Emergency Management Agency (VITEMA), where he was worked since 2000. Mr. Mason is responsible for coordinating and conducting exercises to test the readiness of the territories’ emergency operations centers and other government agencies territorially throughout the year. He also initiates training to increase preparedness in all aspects of emergency management and homeland security. He is a certified trainer for CERT, HAZMAT, WMD, and Tsunami Preparedness. Mr. Mason is also the sitting Chairman of the Board of Directors for St. Thomas Rescue, an all volunteer service, that consist of members that are trained as Emergency Medical Technicians, First Responders, First Aiders certified in CPR, extrication, search and rescue and all related areas of rescue to include dive rescue.

Eric Matusak began volunteering at the age of 15 with the City of Long Beach Search & Rescue team, which he continues to this day. Eric was hired full-time by the City of Long Beach’s Harbor Department where he served as a Harbor Patrol Officer for two years. Eric moved on to the City of Long Beach Police Department as a patrol officer in the City’s West Patrol Division. During this time, he was awarded the Department’s Meritorious Award for Heroism. Officer Matusak then transferred to the Field Support Division where he worked as a member of the Event Planning Section and was responsible for the emergency management responsibilities of the department. Eric promoted to sergeant in 2015 and eventually took an assignment in the Downtown Entertainment District where he was responsible for coordinating and supervising the activity of a specialized unit of police personnel. Duties included supervising full-time staff, managing an overtime budget of approximately 1.15 million dollars in the Downtown Entertainment District, being a point of contact for the convention center, local hotels, restaurants, nightclubs, and bars related to enforcement. In January 2021, Eric was promoted to Police Lieutenant. He currently serves as a patrol watch commander where he manages the resources of the department on a shift covering the 52 square miles and nearly 500,000 residents in the City of Long Beach. Lieutenant Matusak is currently an Incident Command System instructor and serves as an Incident Commander on the City of Long Beach’s All-Hazard Incident Management Team.

Maureen McCann knew she wanted to be a broadcast meteorologist since the age of 4 when Hurricane Gloria blew through her New England hometown. So, it's fitting that Maureen has landed in Florida, since it was a hurricane that sparked her interest in weather in the first place. Maureen is currently the weekday morning meteorologist at News 13 in Orlando, the 24-hour station serving Central Florida. Her TV career has taken her around the country to experience a wide range of weather patterns starting in Bangor, Maine, followed by stations in Syracuse, NY, Austin TX, and Denver, CO. It was in Denver that her storm chase adventures with the late Tim Samaras and his research group TWISTEX transformed into a special which was honored with an Emmy Award and a Colorado Broadcasters Association award. An active member of the American Meteorological Society (AMS), Maureen holds both the Certified Broadcast Meteorologist and Certified Consulting Meteorologist seals. She serves as the AMS Commissioner on Professional Affairs. The National Weather Association has also awarded her with their Television Seal of Approval. Originally from Arlington, Massachusetts, Maureen graduated from Cornell University with a B.S. in Atmospheric Science and has earned a Master's of Emergency and Crisis Management from the University of Central Florida with a focus on geographic information systems.

Dennis McGowen began his law enforcement career in May of 1981 with the Del City Police Department where he served as a Patrolman with two years in the K-9 Division. In 1985, Dennis joined the Oklahoma Alcoholic Beverage Laws Enforcement Commission and retired in 2020 as Special Agent in Charge of the Oklahoma City Enforcement District which encompasses 27 Oklahoma Counties. His duties have included internal affairs, organized crime, tornado and disaster response, training and public speaking appearances. Dennis has completed over 3,837 hours of advanced law enforcement training including: Death Investigation Academy, Criminal Intelligence Officer Academy, Criminal Investigation Academy, Critical Incident Stress Management, Suicide Prevention, Anti-Terrorism, Human Trafficking, Management & Leadership, Emergency Management, Weather Pattern Identification & Hazards and the OK-First weather data interpretation certification. Dennis earned his B.A. in Criminal Justice with a Forensic Science minor from the University of Central Oklahoma. He holds a CLEET Advanced Law Enforcement certificate and has been certified to instruct: Law Enforcement Driver Training (LEDT), FEMA Community Emergency Response Team (CERT), OSHA Blood Borne Pathogens, National Safety Council Alive@25 Teen Driving Course, Question, Prevent, Refer (QPR) Suicide Prevention Gatekeeper, Law Enforcement Suicide Prevention, Police Suicide Awareness, Below 100 (line of duty death prevention) and ICISF Critical Incident Stress Management. Dennis has served as an Adjunct Instructor for the Oklahoma Council on Law Enforcement Education & Training (CLEET), the National Liquor Law Enforcement Association (NLLEA) National Training Academy and a Lead Instructor at the OSU-OKC Precision Driving Training Center.

Angela Michaels is the former County Engineer and Floodplain Manger for Ada County, Idaho. In that capacity she was exposed to the regulatory and administrative side of flooding, the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP), as well as FEMA flood risk map revision process. Additionally, she chaired the Steering Committee tasked with updating the Ada Emergency Management’s multi hazard mitigation plan. In her roll she joined a flood fight in her own community, seeing flood flows matching record highs as far back as 1983. She has firsthand experience with facing the threat of flooding and knows how critical preparedness is for our communities and our country. Most recently she volunteered for post-fire cleanup on the Camp Fire in Northern California.

Angela’s current focus is educating, specializing in learning based adult education, developing and delivering training as a SME in the floodplain management and emergency management fields.

Angela has a BS from Oregon State University. She is licensed Professional Engineer in Idaho, Oregon, and Washington. She’s a Certified Floodplain Manager with extensive experience in hydrology and hydraulics analysis. She is also a Certified Profession in Erosion and Sediment Control. Angela spends her spare time mountain biking, fly fishing, and traveling the world participating on volunteer design teams in developing countries.

Sarah Miller is a Certified Emergency Manager (CEM) who has worked as an emergency management professional in the Seattle area since 2006. She served as the contract EM coordinator for south King County for 5 years and as the Emergency Manager for the City of Auburn for 9 years. Her 30 years of public service includes 12 years as a public safety dispatcher and 9 years as a search and rescue volunteer. Sarah has been an adjunct faculty member at various colleges and universities since 2002. She currently teaches undergraduate courses at Pierce College and graduate courses at Georgetown University. Sarah works with a number of FEMA training partners to deliver courses across the country on topics including social media, economic recovery, situational awareness, and CERT, as well as teaching in the National Basic, Advanced, and Executive Emergency Management Academies. Sarah is active in the International Association of Emergency Managers (IAEM), currently as President of Region 10 and immediate past-Chair of the Emerging Technology Committee. She holds a Master of Public Administration degree in Emergency Management, is a graduate of the National Emergency Management Basic, Advanced, and Executive Academies, and is currently working on her PhD dissertation. Sarah is also certified in cybersecurity management and business continuity and holds a graduate certificate in Information Security and Assurance. A native of Oregon, Sarah has lived in Washington State since 1997 with her husband and various cats. You can find her on Twitter @scba.

Bronlea Mishler is a public relations and communications professional who currently runs Bronlea M Consulting. Prior to her consulting work, Bronlea spent more than a decade as a communications director and crisis communications expert for city and county governments in Washington state. Her skills include coordinating public outreach efforts for departments and elected offices; training staff in media relations, communications and social media best practices; management and content creation for multiple social media accounts; and crisis communications. Bronlea's experience in crisis communication includes managing social media and public outreach during the March 2014 Oso landslide, coordinating communications for the 2014 Marysville-Pilchuck High School shooting and the 2016 Cascade Mall shooting, organizing the JIC and managing communications for the 2016 Break Free protests in Anacortes, assisting with PIO coordination during a 2016 officer-involved shooting in Mount Vernon, and serving as the lead spokesperson and social media manager for several weather-related and jurisdictional emergencies in Skagit & Snohomish counties. Her past experience includes work as a communications coordinator for Skagit County, communications director for the city of Marysville, and deputy director of communications for Snohomish County. She also worked for the Washington State Department of Transportation managing the popular @wsdot_traffic Twitter account, and began her professional career as a local newspaper reporter. Bronlea lives on a small farm in Washington with cats, chickens horses, goats, sheep and a one-eyed Border Collie. Connect with her online: http://www.linkedin.com/in/bronlea or @bronleamishler on Twitter.

Mr. Murata has over 20 years of experience in disaster management and Humanitarian Assistance/Disaster Relief (HA/DR) in the local and state arenas. He has supported disaster management and HA/DR efforts in support of U.S. Pacific Command (USPACOM), the State of Hawaii as a Booz Allen Hamilton (Booz Allen) employee, and as a member of the Hawaii National Guard (HING). He supported USPACOM HA/DR efforts as part of a Joint Interagency Coordinating Group planning cell and numerous National Guard Domestic Operations efforts within the State of Hawaii as a National Guardsman. As a National Guardsman, he also served as the USPACOM J572 Deputy Branch Chief, leading HD, Defense Support to Civil Authorities (DSCA), and Pandemic Influenza, Infectious Disease and Biological Considerations and Foreign Humanitarian Assistance planning and represented the branch during operational efforts. Also as a National Guardsman, Mr. Murata served as a counter drug officer and liaison to USPACOM Joint Interagency Task Force – West and the JIACG-CT. As an employee of Booz Allen, Mr. Murata provided direct support to the USPACOM J572 and the Joint Task Force Homeland Defense for HD and DSCA planning and execution efforts. Mr. Murata is currently supporting the U.S. Army Pacific (USARPAC) Futures Division as an experimentation integrator and planner. He previously supported the USARPAC Asia-Pacific Counter-Improvised Explosive Device Fusion Center as a counter improvised threat and explosive ordnance device (EOD) planner.