Authors
Luke Beckman
Luke Beckman is a disaster response and community resilience professional. He focuses on man-made and natural disasters, and public health crises, both domestically and internationally. He is the Chief of Networks for the National Institute for Urban Search and Rescue and was formerly the Director of Disaster Operations for InSTEDD. He can be reached at lukembeckman@gmail.com.
Neil Canfield
Neil Canfield is a Project Manager for G&H International Services. He is currently working with DHS and FEMA on projects centering around Web 2.0 tools, as well as technology innovation and evaluation for the first responder community.
Sara Estes Cohen
Sara Estes Cohen is a Project Manager for G&H International Services, Inc. and currently working in community support and management for DHS First Responder Communities of Practice, a trusted network and platform for homeland security professionals to communicate, collaborate, and share resources.
Bob Greenberg
Bob Greenberg is CEO and Founder of G&H International Services. He has been working with the federal government to develop and implement programs to support first responders for nearly two decades.
Charlee Hess
Charlee Hess is a Project Manager for G&H International Services. She is currently working with DHS on projects aimed at improving emergency preparedness, response and recovery.
Lisa Martilotta
Lisa Martilotta is a Program Director for G&H International Services. She is currently working with DHS on the Virtual USA initiative and related projects aimed at improving emergency preparedness, response and recovery.
Sara Moore
Sara Moore is a Program Director for G&H International Services. She is currently working with DHS on projects that focus on applying Web 2.0 and new media technologies that enable the response community and emergency management to better share information and collaborate within and across all levels of government. In 2007, Sara worked with Boston University to expand the Center for Digital Imaging Arts, bringing a new approach to digital media education to the DC area.
Sarah Perlstein
Sarah Perlstein is a project analyst with G&H International Services. She currently works on various research projects for the company and is supporting the upcoming Community Preparedness Forum.
Steve Precker
Steve Precker is a project manager with G&H International Services. He currently works to support U.S. Department of Homeland Security programs focusing on first responder technologies and more efficient incident management, response, and information sharing.
Brad Reed
Brad Reed is a technical writer for G&H International Services, Inc. He has worked in the public safety field for six years.
Greg Simay
Greg Simay is active in addressing issues that affect municipalities. In addition to being a utility management leader for the City of Burbank, Greg has been an Inter-agency Communications and Interoperability System (ICIS) Board member since 2004 and Vice Chair of a six city joint program overseeing the deployment of an interoperable radio communications network.
Jim Smalley
Jim Smalley is a member of the Board of Directors of the National Alliance for Public Safety GIS Foundation. He worked for the National Fire Protection Association as the manager of wildland fire protection and the Firewise Communities program, a national wildfire risk assessment/hazard education program. Before coming to the NFPA in 1982, he worked at FEMA Headquarters in fire protection planning and served on a Nuclear Regulatory Commission team to review local emergency plans and exercises. His fire service background includes three fire departments in Arkansas (fire fighter, driver/engineer, training officer, and bomb squad officer) and volunteer fire chief in Fairfax County, Virginia. He is currently a fire/ emergency management consultant and adjunct faculty member for Western Oregon University.
Joel Thomas
Joel Thomas is a Project Manager for G&H International Services. He is currently supporting DHS efforts to provide technical assistance to the Virtual USA regional information sharing pilots.
Randy Van Dyne
J. Randal “Randy” Van Dyne is the Executive Director of the All Hazards Training Center at The University of Findlay (branded as Findlay All Hazards), located in Findlay, Ohio. Randy is also an Assistant Vice President at the university, and was instrumental in the creation of Findlay All Hazards in 1986. Randy is now directly responsible for the initiation and development of all of Findlay’s emergency response and safety training programs.
Since the center’s inception, Findlay has graduated over 1,200 students from its Master’s and Bachelor’s Degree Programs in Environmental, Safety, and Occupational Health Management. Findlay All Hazards, as of 2010, has trained nearly 150,000 people coast-to-coast through open enrollment courses and custom training programs.
In 2001, Randy was appointed to Ohio’s State Emergency Response Commission (SERC). Currently serving his third term with SERC, he is secretary of the SERC Training Committee, and a member of the Executive Committee.
In 2002, Randy received the Environmental Educator of the Year Award from the Ohio Alliance for the Environment. A member of the Ohio Chemical Technology Council, Randy has nearly 30 years of direct experience in environmental, safety, health, and security professions. His areas of expertise include workplace and school violence prevention, business development, program management, grant acquisition, and partnership and coalition building.
A native of Orrville, Ohio, he received his undergraduate degree in marketing from Ohio Northern University, and an MBA from Eastern New Mexico University.
Randy is currently in his second term as a Findlay city councilman.
Gary Wingrove
Gary Wingrove was the first paramedic to serve as president of a state rural health association, is a former state EMS director, is a member and former chair of the Rural Domestic Preparedness Consortium Advisory Board, is chair of the EMS Issue Group at the National Rural Health Association and is president of the National EMS Management Association (http://www.nemsma.org/). Wingrove lives in rural Buffalo, Minnesota, with his wife Karen, and 10 year old twins, Joey and Allie.
