Investigators and Acknowledgments
Investigators
Principal Investigators: John F. Weaver, Cooperative Institute for Research in the Atmosphere (CIRA) at Colorado State University (CSU); Lindsey C. Harkabus, Department of Psychology, CSU.
Other Investigators: Rob Cox, Science and Operations Officer (SOO), John Griffith, Warning Coordination Meteorologist (WCM), Rebecca Mazur Forecaster, National Weather Service Forecast Office, Cheyenne, Wyoming; and Jeff Braun, Forecaster, National Weather Service Forecast Office, Riverton, Wyoming
Acknowledgements
There are numerous people to thank for their assistance in the successful recruitment of participants for this study. However, first we want to offer our deepest appreciation to the many busy emergency managers who took 30 minutes or more from their busy days to get involved. To have nearly 1,100 professionals nationwide complete this survey is an amazing testament to the helping attitude of the emergency management community. It was an amazing turnout; greater than we’d expected.
On to those who helped us recruit participants. We would like to express appreciation to the large number of National Weather Service (NWS) personnel who supported us in the distribution of the survey link. Many WCMs contacted their local emergency managers following a request by Scientific Services Division Chiefs, Pete Browning (Central Region) and Craig Schmidt (Western Region), respectively. Robert Laplante and Gary Garnet from the Cleveland, OH forecast office did the same for us in Ohio and even brought in some participation from surrounding states. Also, Rhett Milne, WCM, Reno, NV went above and beyond in his area, and Chris Landsea and Matthew Green from the National Hurricane Center helped us fill in Florida. Tanja Fransen, WCM Glasgow, MT assisted in a big way by putting us in contact with some folks who are very active in the International Association of Emergency Managers (IAEM). This helped us expand the study into areas where we didn’t get NWS support and where our “cold call” emails had failed. Specifically, we would like to mention Bob Goldhammer, former emergency manager for Des Moines, IA, and IAEM Regional Vice President, as well as Eric Holdeman homeland security director of the Port Of Tacoma, and blogger for Emergency Management Magazine. Finally, a special thanks to Karen Thompson, Editor for the International Association of Emergency Managers magazine.
Other emergency responder groups that provided support include the Texas Department of Public Safety, the New York State Emergency Management Association, the Maine Emergency Management Agency, and the New Jersey Emergency Management Association. Also, special kudos to Mike Gavin, President of the Colorado Association of Emergency Managers. His efforts provided extraordinary response in that state. Finally, we need to add David Hartin from Tuscaloosa Alabama, Keli Cain from the Public Information Office of the Oklahoma Office of Emergency Management, and Scott Boss from the Arkansas Department of Emergency Management for his help obtaining responses from the south.
I tried to keep as accurate a record as possible, but I probably left one or more helpful souls out of this list. It seems like there were more. If you are someone I overlooked, please drop me an email at John.Weaver@colostate.edu and I will correct the oversight. Just include your name and affiliation and I’ll add you to the list.
Friday, June 29, 2012