Share the Wealth…
Industry Associations Bulletin Board

March 2010

NEWS AND EVENTS

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>> ORGANIZATION SPOTLIGHT

Natural Hazards Research Center
Since 1976, the Natural Hazards Center has served as a national and international clearinghouse of knowledge concerning the social science and policy aspects of disasters. The Center collects and shares research and experience related to preparedness for, response to, recovery from, and mitigation of disasters, emphasizing the link between hazards mitigation and sustainability to both producers and users of research and knowledge on extreme events. A basic goal of the Center is to strengthen communication among researchers and the individuals, organizations, and agencies concerned with reducing damages caused by disasters. More than a quarter century of cultivating discourse among these groups has placed the Natural Hazards Center center-stage in both the national and global hazards communities. The Center is funded by a consortium of federal agencies (Federal Emergency Management Agency, National Science Foundation, U.S. Geological Survey, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, National Aeronautics and Space Administration, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and the U.S. Forest Service) and the Public Entity Risk Institute.
 
www.colorado.edu/hazards

>> NEW ADDITIONS

National Watershed Coalition
The National Watershed Coalition (NWC) is a nonprofit 501(c)(3) Coalition (F.E.I.N. no. 84-1142882) (Dun & Bradstreet Number, DUNS, 09-053-1299) made up of national, regional, state, and local organizations, associations, and individuals, that advocate dealing with natural resource problems and issues using watersheds as the planning and implementation unit. It was formed in 1989, succeeding the older Watershed Congress, which traced its roots back to about 1951. The NWC:

• Advocates using total resource management principles in planning, and believes the USDA assisted small watershed programs are among the best planning and implementation vehicles available for wise water and land management.
• Represents the concerns and needs of watershed project sponsors at the national level.
• Offers assistance on watershed planning when requested, sponsors biennial national watershed conferences, other specialty resource conferences, publishes a monthly electronic newsletter, “Watershed e-News” and conference proceedings.
• Provides resource testimony before Congress on watershed programs and policy, and believes proper care of our nation’s natural resources a top national priority.

National Voluntary Organizations Active in Disaster
The National Voluntary Organizations Active in Disaster (NVOAD) coordinates planning efforts by many voluntary organizations responding to disaster. Member organizations provide more effective and less duplication in service by getting together before disasters strike. Once disasters occur, NVOAD or an affiliated state VOAD encourages members and other voluntary agencies to convene on site. This cooperative effort has proven to be the most effective way for a wide variety of volunteers and organizations to work together in a crisis. It serves member organizations through:

• Communication - disseminating information through electronic mechanisms, its Newsletter, the directory, research and demonstration, case studies, and critique
• Cooperation - creating a climate for cooperation at all levels (including grass roots) and providing information
• Coordination - coordinating policy among member organizations and serving as a liaison, advocate, and national voice
• Education - providing training and increasing awareness and preparedness in each organization
• Leadership Development - giving volunteer leaders training and support so as to build effective state VOAD organizations
• Mitigation - supporting the efforts of federal, state, and local agencies and governments and supporting appropriate legislation
• Convening Mechanisms - putting on seminars, meetings, board meetings, regional conferences, training programs, and local conferences
• Outreach - encouraging the formation of and giving guidance to state and regional voluntary organizations active in disaster relief.

>> POSTINGS FROM PREVIOUS WEEKS

Society for Risk Analysis
The Society for Risk Analysis is a multidisciplinary, interdisciplinary, scholarly, international society that provides an open forum for all those who are interested in risk analysis. Risk analysis is broadly defined to include risk assessment, risk characterization, risk communication, risk management, and policy relating to risk, in the context of risks of concern to individuals, to public and private sector organizations, and to society at a local, regional, national, or global level. Its goals are:

1. Bring together individuals from diverse disciplines and from different countries and provide them opportunities to exchange information, ideas and methodologies for risk analysis and risk problem-solving;
2. Foster understanding and professional collaboration among individuals and organizations for the purpose of contributing to risk analysis and risk problem-solving;
3. Facilitate the dissemination of knowledge about risk and risk methods and their applications;
4. Encourage applications of risk analysis methods;
5. Promote advancement of the state-of-the-art in research and education on risk analysis; and
6. Provide services to its members to assist them in developing their careers in risk analysis.

Private & Public Businesses Inc
The Private & Public Businesses, Inc., (PPBI) is a not-for-profit Missouri corporation with a mission to link the private and public sectors in effective emergency management and disaster recovery planning. It will act as a clearinghouse for the exchange of information between private businesses and emergency management public agencies through communication, training and standards-setting in order to increase awareness of the economic viability of a community as an issue during recovery from disasters.
www.ppbi.org

Storage Networking Industry Association
Incorporated in December 1997,the Storage Networking Industry Association is a registered 501(c)6 non-profit trade association. Their members are dedicated to developing and promoting standards, technologies, and educational services to empower organizations in the management of information. It works toward this goal by forming and sponsoring Technical Work Groups (TWGs), producing (with their strategic partner Computerworld) the Storage Networking World Conference series, building and maintaining a vendor neutral Technology Center in Colorado Springs, and promoting activities that expand the breadth and quality of the storage and information management market. Its ability to accomplish these goals is directly attributed to the dedication and hard work of hundreds of volunteers from their member companies.
www.snia.org

Dart Center for Journalism and Trauma
The Dart Center for Journalism and Trauma was founded at the University of Washington in 1999. It continues a mission begun nearly a decade earlier. The Dart Center is a global network of journalists, journalism educators and health professionals dedicated to improving media coverage of trauma, conflict and tragedy. The Center also addresses the consequences of such coverage for those working in journalism. Its mission is to:
— Advocate ethical and thorough reporting of trauma; sensitive, professional treatment of victims and survivors by journalists, and greater awareness by media organizations of the impact of trauma coverage on both news professionals and news consumers
— Educate working journalists about the science and psychology of trauma and the implications for news coverage through their website, academic research, seminars, workshops and training
— Serve as a forum for print, broadcast and Internet journalists to analyze issues, exchange ideas and advance strategies related to reporting on violence and catastrophic stress.
They also create and sustain partnerships among media professionals, therapists and others concerned with trauma, and nurture peer-support among working journalists.
www.dartcenter.org

Southern California Earthquake Center
The Southern California Earthquake Center (SCEC) is a community of over 600 scientists, students, and others at over 60 institutions worldwide, headquartered at the University of Southern California. SCEC is funded by the National Science Foundation and the U.S. Geological Survey to develop a comprehensive understanding of earthquakes in Southern California and elsewhere, and to communicate useful knowledge for reducing earthquake risk.
 
Its goal is to understand the physics of the Southern California fault system and develop a model of key aspects of earthquake behavior. To do this, it organizes interdisciplinary research spanning all aspects of earthquake system science, disciplinary activities such as data collection and analysis, and special projects in information technology, earthquake predictability, and other applied research.
www.scec.org

International Society for Traumatic Stress Studies
The International Society for Traumatic Stress Studies was founded in 1985 for professionals to share information about the effects of trauma. It is dedicated to the discovery and dissemination of knowledge about policy, program and service initiatives that seek to reduce traumatic stressors and their immediate and long-term consequences. It is an international multidisciplinary, professional membership organization that promotes advancement and exchange of knowledge about severe stress and trauma. This knowledge includes understanding the scope and consequences of traumatic exposure, preventing traumatic events and ameliorating their consequences, and advocating for the field of traumatic stress. It provides a forum for the sharing of research, clinical strategies, public policy concerns and theoretical formulations on trauma in the United States and around the world. They are the premier society for the exchange of professional knowledge and expertise in the field.
www.istss.org

InfraGard
InfraGard is a Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) program that began in the Cleveland Field Office in 1996. It was a local effort to gain support from the information technology industry and academia for the FBI’s investigative efforts in the cyber arena. The program expanded to other FBI Field Offices, and in 1998 the FBI assigned national program responsibility for it to the former National Infrastructure Protection Center (NIPC) and to the Cyber Division in 2003. InfraGard and the FBI have developed a relationship of trust and credibility in the exchange of information concerning various terrorism, intelligence, criminal, and security matters. Its goal is to promote ongoing dialogue and timely communication between members and the FBI. Its members gain access to information that enables them to protect their assets and in turn give information to government that facilitates its responsibilities to prevent and address terrorism and other crimes. www.infragard.net

Western States Seismic Policy Council
The Western States Seismic Policy Council (WSSPC) is a regional earthquake consortium organized as a 501(c)(3) non-profit and is funded primarily by the Department of Homeland Security’s Federal Emergency Management Agency and the U.S. Geological Survey. Headquartered in Sacramento, California, its members are the State Geological Survey and Emergency Management Directors of 13 western states, 3 territories, a Canadian territory and a Canadian province, and 7 state seismic safety councils and commissions in the western states. Its mission is to develop seismic policies and share information to promote programs intended to reduce earthquake-related losses. Its goals are:

• Promote regional cooperation and the interaction of the State Emergency Management, State Geological Surveys, and State Seismic Councils and Commissions in the formation of, and advocacy for, seismic policy
• Improve the overall awareness of earthquake hazards and methods to mitigate the associated risks; develop strategies to enhance earthquake preparedness; and support earthquake studies and earthquake preparedness activities that will reduce or eliminate deaths, injuries and property damage
• Serve as a resource for earthquake-related materials, information, training programs and workshops, in coordination with other regional and national earthquake organizations
• Advocate adoption and implementation of seismic mitigation policies at all levels of government.

www.wsspc.org

National Landslide Hazards Program
The National Landslide Hazards Program (LHP) has operated since the mid-1970's in gathering information, conducting research, responding to emergencies and disasters, and producing scientific reports and other products for a broadly based user community including geologists and engineers in government, academia and private practice, planners and decision makers from governmental entities at all levels, and the general public. Its primary objective is to reduce long-term losses from landslide hazards by improving our understanding of the causes of ground failure and suggesting mitigation strategies. The results of these efforts have led to significant improvements in understanding the nature and scope of ground-failure problems nationally and worldwide. Such improvements are central to the role of the program, because opportunities remain for fundamental advances in understanding that promise to save lives and dollars. http://landslides.usgs.gov