• Past Events

Past Events

2012

The Tohoku Disaster: Responding to Japan’s 3.11 Earthquake, Tsunami, and Nuclear Accident
DATE AND TIME: Wednesday, November 14, 2012, 5:30 PM
LOCATION: Nye AB, 5th Floor, Taubman Building, HKS
SPEAKER: Arnold M. Howitt, Faculty Co-Director, Program on Crisis Leadership, and Executive Director, Ash Center for Democratic Governance and Innovation, HKS

Based on research conducted in Japan this past summer, Dr. Howitt will explore Japan’s emergency response to the catastrophic Great East Japan Earthquake of March 11, 2011. Among other things, he will discuss how the response played out across various levels of government (local, prefectural, and national) and offer recommendations for how Japan can improve its disaster response for the future.

Organized by the Taubman Center for State and Local Government.

To view Part 1 of the presentation, click here:

To view Part 2 of the presentation, click here:

Preparing for Catastrophic Emergencies: Lessons from the Wenchuan Earthquake and the Zhouqu Debris Flow Disaster
Disaster Management in Asia Seminar Series
DATE AND TIME: Wednesday, November 14, 2012, 12:15 PM
LOCATION: Suite 100, Room 106, 124 Mt. Auburn Street, Cambridge
SPEAKER: Wang Lanmin, PhD, Director, Earthquake Administration of Gansu Province, China, and Ash Center New World Fellow

Dr. Wang has been Director of Gansu Province's Earthquake Administration since 2004; he also serves as one of the coordinators for earthquake emergency response across Northwest China. In this brownbag seminar, he will discuss Gansu's ongoing efforts to prepare for major natural disasters, focusing specifically on lessons learned from two recent events: the devastating Wenchuan Earthquake of 2008, which heavily affected southern Gansu, and the Zhouqu Debris Flow Disaster, which killed over 1,500 people in 2010.

Moderated by Dr. Arnold Howitt, Executive Director, Ash Center for Democratic Governance and Innovation, and Faculty Co-Director, Program on Crisis Leadership, Harvard Kennedy School.

Sponsored by Harvard Kennedy School's Program on Crisis Leadership, the New World Fellows Program, and the Harvard University Asia Center.

Brown Bag with Ambassador Christian Dussey
DATE AND TIME: Monday, November 5, 2012, 12:00 PM 
LOCATION: Taubman 401
SPEAKER:  Ambassador Christian Dussey, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Switzerland; and Fellow, Weatherhead Center for International Affairs, Harvard University

In this career brown bag, Ambassador Dussey will discuss his experience leading the Crisis Management Center of the Swiss Ministry of Foreign Affairs, which coordinates the Swiss government's crisis response system to major incidents (disasters, political upheavals, terror attacks, hostage situations) affecting its citizens abroad.

Among other diplomatic postings, Ambassador Dussey has served as political counselor at the Embassy of Switzerland in Moscow and headed the International Security Section of the Swiss Ministry of Foreign Affairs. He studied at Tufts Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy, the University of Fribourg, and Georgetown University. As a Weatherhead Fellow, he is spending the year researching crisis management, crisis leadership, and decision-making.

Sponsored by the Crisis Management Student Group at Harvard Kennedy School and the Program on Crisis Leadership.


Assessing Emergency Response to the 3.11 Earthquake, Tsunami, and Nuclear Accident in Japan
DATE AND TIME: Friday, October 26, 2012, 12:15 p.m.
LOCATION: S250, 2nd Floor, CGIS South Building, 1730 Cambridge St., Cambridge
SPEAKER: Dr. Arnold Howitt, Executive Director, Ash Center for Democratic Governance and Innovation, and Faculty Co-Director, Program on Crisis Leadership, Harvard Kennedy School

Chair: Professor Andrew Gordon, Lee and Juliet Folger Fund Professor of History; Former Director of the Reischauer Institute of Japanese Studies

Modern Asia Seminar Series, Harvard Asia Center; Co-sponsored with the Reischauer Institute of Japanese Studies, the Program on U.S.-Japan Relations, and the Program on Crisis Leadership, Harvard Kennedy School

Fall 2012 Open House: HKS Program on Crisis Leadership and Harvard Humanitarian Initiative
DATE AND TIME: Wednesday, September 12, 4:15 PM
LOCATION: Taubman 401

Interested in issues relating to crisis leadership, humanitarian relief, or post-disaster recovery?

Attend this welcome session for new and returning students and hear from faculty and staff affiliated with Harvard Kennedy School’s Program on Crisis Leadership (PCL) and the Harvard Humanitarian Initiative (HHI) about academic offerings and activities related to disaster management and disaster risk reduction. Leaders of the Crisis Management Student Group at HKS will also be present to discuss additional opportunities for student involvement.

Catastrophic Disasters: Confronting Novel Preparedness Challenges
DATE AND TIME: Monday, July 23, 2012, 2:00 PM
LOCATION: Canon Institute for Global Studies (CIGS), Tokyo

Presenter： Dr. Arnold M. Howitt, Faculty Co-Director, Program on Crisis Leadership, and Executive Director, Ash Center for Democratic Governance and Innovation, HKS
Moderator： Jun Kurihara, CIGS Research Director

Emergency preparedness in most countries concentrates on risks that can be "anticipated" because of direct experience, events elsewhere, formal risk analyses, or scenario development. But how can society more effectively prepare for "novel" threats or events that either have not been seen before (e.g., emergent infectious disease, undiscovered seismic faults), or arise at a scale that far exceeds expectations (Hurricane Katrina, the March 11 earthquake/tsunami), or involve simultaneous disasters that together pose novel challenges (earthquake, tsunami, nuclear accident)? Dr. Howitt addressed these questions in a presentation organized by Japan's Canon Institute for Global Studies.

Asia Public Policy Forum: Disaster Management in Asia
DATE AND TIME: Sunday, May 13 - Tuesday, May 15, 2012
LOCATION: Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy, National University of Singapore, Singapore

The Ash Center's 2012 Asia Public Policy Forum focused on the theme of disaster management—an issue of critical concern for an area highly vulnerable to a variety of natural hazards. With the aim of fostering discussion on core disaster management challenges and advances in Asia, it featured presentations on a variety of issues concerning disaster risk reduction, emergency preparedness and response, and disaster recovery. View photos of the conference here.

The forum was jointly organized by the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy at the National University of Singapore and the Rajawali Foundation Institute for Asia at Harvard Kennedy School’s Ash Center for Democratic Governance and Innovation. The Program on Crisis Leadership at Harvard Kennedy School and the Harvard University Asia Center co-sponsored the event.

The Ash Center sponsors the annual Asia Public Policy Forum in different venues around the region. The event brings together scholars, senior public officials, and representatives of the business and nonprofit communities to address public policy matters of particular importance for Asia.

Disaster Response: The Military's Role from Japan to the Gulf
DATE AND TIME: Thursday, April 26, 2012, 6:00 PM
LOCATION: John F. Kennedy Jr. Forum, Harvard Kennedy School

A Panel Conversation with: General Craig McKinley, National Guard Bureau Chief; Admiral Mary Landry, United States Coast Guard; General Julie Bentz, National Security Council.

Moderated by Herman “Dutch” Leonard, Professor of Public Management, and Faculty Co-Director, Program on Crisis Leadership, HKS

Community-Powered Disaster Recovery: A Brownbag Presentation by Recovers.Org
DATE AND TIME: Tuesday, April 17, 2012, 12:00 PM
LOCATION: Taubman 301, Harvard Kennedy School

Created in the wake of an EF3 tornado, Recovers.org  provides free software and support to recovering areas immediately after a disaster. In this brownbag presentation, the organization’s co-founders will discuss how the services Recovers.org provides allow towns to capture the goodwill of people post-disaster and turn it into action amidst the chaos that frequently characterizes early relief and recovery efforts. They will speak about their motivations for creating the organization – and the successes and challenges they’ve experienced navigating the nonprofit, for profit and tech startup scenes.

Moderated by Arnold Howitt, Executive Director, Ash Center for Democratic Governance & Innovation, and Faculty Co-Director, Program on Crisis Leadership.

Recovery in Chile: A Panel Discussion
DATE AND TIME: Thursday, March 29, 2012, 4:00 PM
LOCATION: Fainsod Room, L324, Littauer Building, Harvard Kennedy School

This panel discussion will feature presentations from students who participated in the 2012 Kennedy School J-Term Course “Community Recovery: Rebuilding Disaster Damaged Communities in Chile.” Led by Doug Ahlers, HKS Adjunct Lecturer in Public Policy and Faculty Affiliate of the Program on Crisis Leadership, the course gave 20 graduate students the opportunity to directly engage in disaster reconstruction in communities affected by the 8.8 magnitude earthquake that hit Chile in 2010. The panel will include 4 students from 3 HKS degree programs. Representing each of the project teams, they will share their experiences and give key insights into lessons learned.

Organized by the Crisis Management Student Group at Harvard Kennedy School and the Program on Crisis Leadership.

Coping Strategies of Indonesian Humanitarian Volunteers: Personal, Organizational, Cultural, and Policy Dimensions
A Harvard Disaster Management in Asia Seminar
DATE AND TIME: Wednesday, March 21, 2012, 12:00 PM
LOCATION: Suite 100, 124 Mt. Auburn Street, Cambridge, MA

In this brownbag presentation, HKS Indonesia Research Fellow Nelden Djakababa will discuss her research on post-traumatic growth and psychological well-being of disaster response volunteers, focusing specifically on Indonesian Red Cross personnel  who responded to the major earthquake that hit Yogyakarta and Central Java in 2007. Special attention is given to the narrative-based analysis of the coping strategies employed by the volunteers, taking into account the Javanese culture-based approach to adversity. The study also aims to identify critical points in how this coping process can be supported by the humanitarian organizations and disaster management policies.

Maria Nelden Djakababa (“Nelden”) is a psychologist focusing on trauma, disaster, humanitarian workers, journalism and trauma, resilience, growth, and culture. She holds a Professional Master’s degree as a psychologist from the University of Indonesia, and an Advanced Master’s degree in cultures and development studies from the Catholic University of Leuven, Belgium. Djakababa is currently pursuing her Ph.D. studies at the University of Amsterdam, and is spending the 2011-2012 academic year at the Harvard Kennedy School as an Indonesia Research Fellow. She has accumulated more than seven years of experience in community-based trauma recovery in post-conflict and post-disaster areas in Indonesia and is one of the pioneers in Indonesia in raising the issue of journalism and trauma.

Sponsored by Harvard Kennedy School’s Program on Crisis Leadership, the Harvard Kennedy School Indonesia Program and the Harvard University Asia Center.

2011

Covering Disasters in Southeast Asia: A Reporter's Perspective
A Harvard Disaster Management in Asia Seminar
DATE AND TIME: Thursday, December 8, 2011, 12:15 PM
LOCATION: 301 Taubman, Harvard Kennedy School, Cambridge

Margie Mason is the AP’s Acting Bureau Chief in Vietnam and medical writer for the Asia-Pacific region. She has reported from more than 20 countries over the past decade, writing about an array of disasters and global outbreaks. Among other events, she has covered the flooding that recently ravaged Thailand, Cambodia, and Vietnam; the 2010 floods in Pakistan; Cyclone Nargis, which devastated Myanmar in 2008; and the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami. In this brownbag talk, Ms. Mason will discuss the unique challenges of reporting on these and other disruptive events in the region.

Sponsored by the Harvard Kennedy School’s Program on Crisis Leadership, the Harvard University Asia Center, and the Nieman Foundation for Journalism.


For more on this event please read the Ash Center profile.


Crisis Mapping and Early Warning Systems in Humanitarian Relief: A Presentation by the Harvard Humanitarian Initiative
DATE AND TIME: Thursday, October 20, 2011, 4:30 PM
LOCATION: Ash Center Lobby, 2nd Floor North, 124 Mt. Auburn Street

The Program on Crisis Leadership and the Crisis Management Student Group at HKS welcome Dr. Gregg Greenough and John Crowley of the Harvard Humanitarian Initiative (HHI), who will present on their work concerning crisis mapping and early warning systems, a dynamic area of research that examines the use of information communications technologies in various conflict and disaster settings. In addition, they will briefly overview the humanitarian implications of climate change -- an increasingly important issue for the fields of disaster management, humanitarian assistance, and disaster risk reduction.

For more on crisis mapping, see: http://www.hhi.harvard.edu/programs-and-research/crisis-mapping-and-early-warning

Sponsored by the Program on Crisis Leadership, the HKS Crisis Management Student Group, and the Harvard Humanitarian Initiative.

PCL Open House
DATE AND TIME: Tuesday, September 20, 4:30 PM
LOCATION: Taubman 401

Interested in crisis leadership and response? Want to learn more about disaster management and emergency preparedness? Meet other students interested in these issues and hear from faculty and staff of Harvard Kennedy School’s Program on Crisis Leadership and the Harvard Humanitarian Initiative about related academic offerings. Leaders of the Crisis Management PIC at HKS will be present to discuss additional opportunities for student involvement.

JFK Jr. Forum: Oil Spills, Earthquakes, Tsunamis, and Meltdowns: Acting in Time Against the Next Disaster
DATE AND TIME: Thursday, April 28, 2011, 6:00 PM
LOCATION: JFK Jr. Forum, 79 JFK Street, Harvard Kennedy School

A conversation on disaster preparedness, with:

    Juliette Kayyem, Fmr. Assistant Secretary for Intergovernmental Affairs, U.S. Department of Homeland Security;
    General Craig R. McKinley, Chief, National Guard Bureau;
    Admiral Robert Papp, Commandant, U.S. Coast Guard;
    Hon. Bart Stupak, Fmr. Congressman, D-MI;
    Admiral James Winnefeld, Commander, US Northern Command (NORTHCOM)
    Moderator: Herman B. "Dutch" Leonard, George F. Baker, Jr. Professor of Public Management and Faculty Co-Director, Program on Crisis Leadership, Harvard Kennedy School

Sponsored by the the Program on Crisis Leadership, JKF Jr. Forum, and HKS Executive Education.

Can Indonesia Incrementally Reduce its Disaster Risks? Some Recent Findings
A Disaster Management in Asia Seminar Series Event
SPEAKER: Jonatan Lassa, PhD, Research Fellow, HKS Indonesia Program
DATE AND TIME: Wednesday, April 6, 2011, 4:15 PM
LOCATION: Suite 100, 124 Mt. Auburn Street, Cambridge, MA 02138

Through 2010, more than 300 districts and 30 provinces in Indonesia had complied with Public Law 24/2007, which provides the legal framework for the establishment of a national disaster management system -- yet the actual degree of implementation at the local-level remains largely unclear. In this talk, using social network analysis and drawing on data from 40 districts/cities and provinces, Dr. Jonatan Lassa took a closer look at localities’ progress in meeting the country’s disaster risk reduction standards.

A Harvard Kennedy School Indonesia Program Research Fellow, Dr. Lassa received his PhD in geo-information from the University of Bonn (Germany). His research interests include institutional vulnerability and the governance dimension of disaster risk reduction. He also has more than 10 years of work experience with various civil society organizations.

Sponsored by the Program on Crisis Leadership, the Harvard University Asia Center, and the Harvard Kennedy School Indonesia Program.

Japan in Crisis: Exploring the Consequences of a Cascading Disaster
A Disaster Management in Asia Seminar Series Event
DATE AND TIME: Tuesday, March 22, 2011, 4:15 PM
LOCATION: Goodman Classroom (L-140), Littauer Building, Harvard Kennedy School
(Presentations)
(Q&A and Group Discussion)

On March 11, 2011 a magnitude 9.0 earthquake struck off the east coast of Japan, triggering massive tsunami waves that swept inland, decimating whole towns. Although the total number of casualties remains unknown, as many as 10,000 people are feared dead. Meanwhile, the earthquake has also caused damage to several of Japan’s nuclear reactors, and authorities continue to struggle to bring that crisis under control.

In this discussion, faculty members, researchers, and guest panelists explored the implications of this catastrophic chain of events and discussed the multifold challenges facing Japan as it struggled to respond and recover. Dr. Arnold M. Howitt, Executive Director, Ash Center for Democratic Governance and Innovation, Harvard Kennedy School, moderated a panel that included:

    Professor Michael W. Golay, Department of Nuclear Science and Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
    Jun Kurihara, Senior Fellow, Ash Center for Democratic Governance and Innovation, Harvard Kennedy School
    Professor Herman B. “Dutch” Leonard, Harvard Kennedy School & Harvard Business School
    Professor Shoji Tsuchida, Faculty of Safety Science, Kansai University, Japan

Sponsored by the Program on Crisis Leadership, the HKS Crisis Management Student Group, and the HKS Japan Caucus

For more on this event please read the Harvard Crimson article.

Rebuilding Queensland after the Floods: Lessons from Recovery in New Orleans
SPEAKER: Professor Edward Blakely, Former Executive Director, New Orleans Office of Recovery and Development Administration
DATE AND TIME: Wednesday, February 16, 2011, 4:15 PM
LOCATION: Ash Center Lobby, 2nd Floor North, 124 Mt. Auburn Street

As 2010 drew to a close, floodwaters were washing across much of the state of Queensland, Australia. By the time they had subsided, they had affected an area larger than France and Germany combined, killed dozens of residents, and inflicted serious damage on remote towns and major cities alike (including the state capital, Brisbane). Just a month later, Cyclone Yasi smashed into north Queensland, straining resources and compounding the suffering already experienced across the state. In this talk, Dr. Blakely, drawing upon lessons learned from post-Katrina recovery in New Orleans, explored the challenges that lie ahead as Australia looks to rebuild the flood- and storm-ravaged state.

A leading scholar and practitioner of urban policy and planning, Dr. Blakely served from 2007 – 2009 as executive director of New Orleans’ Office of Recovery and Development Administration. He also led recovery planning efforts in Oakland, California following the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake. He has served as Dean of the School of Urban Planning & Development at the University of Southern California and Dean of the Robert J. Milano Graduate School of Management & Urban Policy at the New School University. He is currently Honorary Professor of Urban Policy at the University of Sydney.

Clear as Mud: Planning for the Rebuilding of New Orleans
SPEAKER: Professor Robert Olshansky, Department of Urban and Regional Planning, University of Illinois
DATE AND TIME: Thursday, February 3, 2011, 4:15 PM
LOCATION: Taubman 301

5 ½ years ago, in the immediate aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, floodwaters overtook the city of New Orleans, causing catastrophic property damage and taking the lives of hundreds of area residents. As the water receded and as rescue and relief drew to a close, New Orleanians faced their next challenge: recovering from one of America’s worst urban disasters.

In this talk, Robert Olshanksy, Professor and Associate Head of Urban and Regional Planning at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, discussed his and co-author Laurie Johnson’s recently published book "Clear as Mud: Planning for the Rebuilding of New Orleans" (APA Planners Press, 2010), which explores the dynamics of the complex and oftentimes contentious planning efforts to rebuild the historic city. A specialist in urban planning with extensive experience studying disaster recovery in both the U.S. and abroad (including Northridge, Kobe, Aceh, Haiti, and Wenchuan), Olshansky used New Orleans’s experience to highlight some of the key issues and themes political leaders and policy makers must grapple with in planning for and executing post-disaster recovery.

2010

 Lawyers and Emergency Management: An Opportunity for Collaboration
SPEAKER: Anthony (Tony) Barash, Advanced Leadership Fellow, Harvard University, and Former Director, American Bar Association’s Center for Pro Bono
DATE AND TIME: Wednesday, December 1, 2010, 5:30 PM
LOCATION: Taubman 301

The Program on Crisis Leadership and the HKS Crisis Management Student Group welcomed Tony Barash, currently a fellow with Harvard’s Advanced Leadership Initiative (www.advancedleadership.harvard.edu) and past director of the American Bar Association’s (ABA) Center for Pro Bono. In this seminar, Mr. Barash presented on the ongoing integration of the legal profession into the broader emergency management community, focusing on ABA's involvement in post-Katrina relief and recovery and his experience as an advisor to the federal government during the BP oil spill. Barash concluded with comments on remaining challenges and possible paths forward for the improved provision of legal services and aid during disaster response and recovery efforts.

Mr. Barash is an attorney with extensive experience in private and corporate practice. While at the Center for Pro Bono, he became particularly interested in national initiatives to provide legal assistance to victims of major disasters and in international initiatives to enhance the rule of law and equal access to justice abroad.

Breaking through Bureaucracy for Speedy Recovery: Lessons Learned from Post-Tsunami Indonesia
SPEAKERS: Margareth (Maggy) Horhoruw, former member of Director’s Office, Indonesian Tsunami Rehabilitation and Reconstruction Agency (BRR), and Doug Ahlers, Adjunct Lecturer (HKS)
DATE AND TIME: Thursday, November 18, 2010, 5:00 PM
LOCATION: Taubman 301

The massive December 26, 2004 tsunami that devastated coastal areas along the Indian Ocean caused particularly extensive damage in northern Sumatra, where destructive waves traveled more than five kilometers inland and tragically killed well over 100,000 area residents. In this session of PCL's “Disaster Management in Asia” seminar series, Maggy Horhoruw, formerly with the Director’s Office of the Indonesian Rehabilitation and Reconstruction Agency (BRR), highlighted lessons learned from the massive recovery effort that followed the tsunami, which not only involved scores of Indonesian governmental agencies, but hundreds of international donors and aid organizations as well.

Doug Ahlers, a PCL faculty affiliate and adjunct lecturer in public policy, who teaches the course “Disaster Recovery Management and Urban Development: Rebuilding New Orleans,” served as discussant, linking Ms. Horhoruw’s observations to other major recovery efforts.

The event was the second session in the 2010/2011 Asia Disaster Management Seminar Series, cosponsored by PCL and the Harvard University Asia Center.

Crisis Management with US and Chinese Characteristics
SPEAKER: Arnold M. Howitt, Executive Director, Ash Center, and Faculty Co-Director, Program on Crisis Leadership, Harvard Kennedy School
DATE AND TIME: Friday, November 5, 2010, 1:30 - 3:00 PM
LOCATION: 124 Mt. Auburn Street, Room 226

Arnold M. Howitt is Executive Director of the Ash Center for Democratic Governance and Innovation and Faculty Co-Director of the Program on Crisis Leadership at Harvard Kennedy School. He has worked extensively on emergency preparedness issues in the US and other countries. Currently, Dr. Howitt is conducting research on emergency evacuation from major disasters in the US; serving as an adviser and trainer-of-trainers for the Chinese Academy of Governance’s new National Institute of Emergency Management; and working with the government of Indonesia to develop training programs for central and provincial government officials. In this 5th session of the HKS China Scholar Council's Academic Lecture Series, Dr. Howitt compared how government in the US and China prepare for, respond to, and recover from major emergency events. He will use several recent disasters as case studies, including Hurricane Katrina, the 2008 Wenchuan earthquake, the 2008 China blizzards and ice storms, and the 2009 H1N1 pandemic.

The Floods in Pakistan: Acute Catastrophe, Long-Term Disruption
SPEAKERS: Moderated by Professor Sugata Bose, and with Professors Asad Ahmed (FAS), John Briscoe (SEAS and HSPH), Ali Cheema (Visiting Scholar), Asim Khwaja (HKS), and Dutch Leonard (HKS and HBS)
DATE AND TIME: Thursday, October 14, 2010, 4:00 PM
LOCATION: CGIS South Building, Seminar Room S250, 1730 Cambridge Street

Throughout the summer of 2010, severe flooding ravaged large parts of Pakistan, affecting millions of lives. In this panel discussion, Harvard faculty members from across the university explored both the immediate and long-term consequences of this far-reaching disaster, along with strategies for moving forward. Moderated by Professor Sugata Bose, Gardiner Professor of Oceanic History and Affairs, Harvard University, and with Professors Asad Ahmed, Department of Anthropology, FAS; John Briscoe, Gordon McKay Professor of the Practice of Environmental Engineering, SEAS, and Professor of the Practice of Environmental Health, HSPH; Ali Cheema, Visiting Scholar, Lahore University of Management Sciences; Asim Khwaja, Professor of Public Policy, HKS; and PCL Faculty Co-Director Herman B. “Dutch” Leonard, George F. Baker, Jr. Professor of Public Management, HKS, and Eliot I. Snider and Family Professor of Business Administration, HBS.

Part of the Modern Asia Seminar Series (Harvard University Asia Center) and the Disaster Management in Asia Seminar Series (Harvard Kennedy School).

Sponsored by the Harvard University Asia Center, Program on Crisis Leadership, and the South Asia Initiative.

For more on this event please read the Harvard Gazette article.

A Conversation With FEMA Deputy Administrator Richard Serino
SPEAKER: Richard Serino, Deputy Administrator, FEMA
DATE AND TIME: Friday, October 8, 10:00 AM
LOCATION: Fainsod Room, Littauer 324, Harvard Kennedy School
Sponsored by the Crisis Management Student Group

Richard Serino began serving as FEMA Deputy Administrator in October 2009. In this role, he works directly with Administrator Craig Fugate to build, sustain, and improve the Department's capacity to prepare for, protect against, respond to, recover from, and mitigate all hazards.

Mr. Serino brings 35 years of state and local emergency management and emergency medical services (EMS) experience to his position at FEMA. Prior to his appointment as Deputy Administrator, he served as Chief of Boston EMS and Assistant Director of the Boston Public Health Commission. In that role, he bolstered the city's response plans for major emergencies, including chemical, biological, and radiological attacks.  He also led citywide planning for H1N1 influenza. Mr. Serino has served as an Incident Commander for over 35 mass casualty incidents and for all of Boston's major planned events, including the Boston Marathon, Boston's Fourth of July celebration, First Night, and the 2004 Democratic National Convention, a National Special Security Event.

Open House: Crisis Management Student Group and Program on Crisis Leadership
SPEAKERS: Student Group Co-Chairs and PCL Faculty and Staff
DATE AND TIME: Wednesday, September 8, 2010, 5:30 PM
LOCATION: Nye B, Taubman 5th Floor

Leaders of the HKS Crisis Management Student Group, along with faculty and staff affiliated with the Program on Crisis Leadership, welcomed HKS students back to campus at their fall 2010 open house and informational session. Student leaders overviewed their group's mission and activities and PCL faculty discussed their research and academic interests. Afterwards, attendees had the chance to mingle with other students interested in issues concerning disaster risk management and crisis leadership.

Commanding in Time: Crisis Management when Life and Leadership are on the Line
SPEAKER: Joseph Pfeifer, Chief of Counterterrorism and Emergency Preparedness, New York City Fire Department
DATE AND TIME: Monday, April 12, 2010, 4:30 PM
LOCATION: Ash Center Conference Room, 2nd Floor North, 124 Mt. Auburn Street

Focusing on 9/11 and the emergency water landing  of US Airways Flight 1549, Chief Pfeifer will explore whether emergency responders are able to command and respond in time to the next extreme event.  Chief Pfeifer will argue that Commanding in Time is the ability to recognize that the threat environment has changed and quickly move to a network system of command and control that can connect, collaborate and coordinate emergency response.

Chief Pfeifer is New York City Fire Department’s Chief of Counterterrorism and Emergency Preparedness.  He is also a Citywide Command Chief, responsible for commanding major incidents.  Pfeifer was the first Chief at the World Trade Center attack and survived the collapse of the towers.  In the wake of the attacks on the World Trade Center, he assessed the Department’s 9/11/01 response, identified new budget and policy priorities, helped overhaul management practices, created partnerships to supplement the Department’s existing competencies with new expertise, shaped new technologies for emergency response and developed the FDNY’s first Strategic Plan and Terrorism Preparedness Strategy.  With the support of the Fire Commissioner and Chief of Department, Chief Pfeifer founded and directs FDNY’s Center for Terrorism and Disaster Preparedness.

On the Ground in Haiti: Observations about Rebuilding and Community Resilience
SPEAKER: Professor Reginald DesRoches, Associate Chair of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology
DATE AND TIME: Thursday, March 18, 2010, 5:00 PM
LOCATION: Weil Town Hall, Belfer Building
The January 12, 2010 Mw 7.0 Haiti earthquake resulted in one of the most devastating natural disasters in modern times. It is estimated that over 250,000 fatalities and over 300,000 injuries resulted from the earthquake, and over one million people remain homeless.  The rebuilding community is challenged not only by the scale of the devastation, but also by the very real possibility that Port-au-Prince may face another devastating earthquake within the next one or two decades.  In this talk, Dr. DesRoches will highlight the vulnerabilities that exists in Haiti and the opportunities for rebuilding for resilience and sustainability.

A native of Haiti, Reginald DesRoches's primary research interests include structural design and analysis; design of bridges and buildings; and the use of smart materials in earthquake engineering. He led two technical reconnaissance teams to Haiti in the last month on behalf of the Earthquake Engineering Research Institute (EERI), the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE), and the Appropriate Infrastructure Development Group (AIDG).

What to Do in Haiti and How to Prevent the Next Haiti
SPEAKER: Dr. Edward Blakely
DATE AND TIME: Friday, February 5, 2010, 10:30 AM
LOCATION: Ash Conference Room, 124 Mt Auburn St, 2nd Floor North

Dr. Blakely, the former disaster recovery czar in New Orleans is Professor of Urban and Regional Planning at the University of Sydney, Australia. He has long experience in disaster recovery and urban risk policy.

Long-Term Life Recovery from a Mega-Disaster: Findings from 1999, 2001, 2003, and 2005 Cross Sectional and Panel Surveys of the 1995 Kobe Earthquake Survivors
SPEAKER: Dr. Shigeo Tatsuki, Professor, Doshisha University, Kyoto, Japan
DATE AND TIME: Wednesday, January 27, 2010, 4:00 PM
LOCATION: Weil Town Hall, Belfer Building

Long-Term Disaster Recovery Process: Lessons Learned from the 1995 Kobe Earthquake
SPEAKER: Dr. Haruo Hayashi, Disaster Prevention Research Institute, Kyoto University, Japan
DATE AND TIME: Tuesday, January 26, 2010, 4:00 PM
LOCATION: Weil Town Hall, Belfer Building

2009

Dynamic Robustness in Emergent Communication Networks
Speaker: Dr. Carter Butts, Department of Sociology and Institute for Mathematical Behavioral Sciences, University of California, Irvine
DATE AND TIME: December 10, 2009, 11:30 AM-1:00 PM
LOCATION: Taubman Building, Room 275

Presented in collaboration with the Taubman Center for State and Local Government and the Program on Networked Governance. Professor Butts examines the robustness of emergency responder communication networks during periods of disruption and instability, focusing on communication among responders to the September 11, 2001 World Trade Center disaster.

“Un-Natural Disasters” - The Toll of Human Occupancy of Hazardous Areas
Speaker: Edward A. Thomas Esq.
DATE AND TIME: November 19, 2009, 3:00-4:30 PM
LOCATION: Ash Institute Conference Room (Room 226), 2nd Floor North, 124 Mt. Auburn

Mr. Thomas, a former senior administrator with FEMA, explores the mounting toll of misery caused by human occupancy of hazardous areas, the reasons why society encourages and enables this behavior, and the impediments to preventing it. He also leads an interactive conversation on how we can implement change.

Seismic Safety in Emerging Nations: Making Schools Safer
Speaker: Brian Tucker, Executive Director of GeoHazards International (MPA ’91)
DATE AND TIME: October 27, 2009, 5:00-6:30 PM
LOCATION: Ash Institute Conference Room (Room 226), 2nd Floor North, 124 Mt. Auburn

Brian Tucker founded GeoHazards International, a nonprofit organization working to reduce the risk of natural hazards in the world’s most vulnerable communities through preparedness, mitigation and advocacy. For his innovative work, Tucker was named a 2002 MacArthur Fellow. In this talk, Mr. Tucker discusses his organization’s efforts to improve seismic safety standards in developing countries.

Preparing for a Crisis: A Briefing on H1N1 Influenza
Speaker: Dr. Paul Biddinger, Associate Director, Center for Public Health Preparedness, Harvard School of Public Health
DATE AND TIME: October 21, 2009, 2:30-3:30 PM
LOCATION: Weil Town Hall, Belfer Building

Dr. Biddinger, Associate Director of the Center for Public Health Preparedness at the Harvard School of Public Health and Director of Operations in the Emergency Department of Massachusetts General Hospital, explores efforts to prepare for H1N1 influenza, the current status of the response to the epidemic, and the implications for the future of emergency preparedness. Dr. Biddinger also answers questions on crisis management and health policy careers. Organized by the HKS Crisis Management Student Group.

Preparing for Disaster: A Comprehensive Risk Management Framework
Speakers: Professor Dutch Leonard and Dr. Arnold Howitt
DATE AND TIME: September 29, 2009, 4:30-6:00 PM
LOCATION: Ash Institute Conference Room (Room 226), 2nd Floor North, 124 Mt. Auburn

Professor Leonard and Dr. Howitt introduce students to a comprehensive risk management framework for analyzing and improving disaster mitigation, response, and recovery.

Real World Brown Bag Lunch
SPEAKER: Patrick Meier, Fellow, Harvard Humanitarian Initiative (HHI)
DATE AND TIME: September 22, 2009, 12:00–1:00 PM
LOCATION: Ash Institute Conference Room (Room 226), 2nd Floor North, 124 Mt. Auburn

Patrick Meier, a Doctoral Research Fellow with the Harvard Humanitarian Initiative’s Crisis Mapping & Early Warning Program, discusses cutting edge technologies (SMS, Google Earth, Very High Resolution (VHR) satellite imagery, UAVs) in conflict early warning, crisis management, and humanitarian response. Organized by the HKS Crisis Management Student Group.

Program on Crisis Leadership and Crisis Management Student Group Welcome Session
DATE AND TIME: September 16, 2009, 4:30 PM
LOCATION: Taubman Building, Room 275

Short presentations from faculty, staff, and student leaders. Featured groups include the Harvard Humanitarian Initiative; the Program on Crisis Leadership (including the Acting in Time Disaster Recovery Project); the Broadmoor Initiative (New Orleans); and the Crisis Management Student Group PIC.