Center’s Blog
Use this page to stay up-to-date on COVID-19, homeland security emergency management, campus safety, job resources, career pathways, upcoming webinars, scholarships, Washington State news and more.
Happy Juneteenth 2024
Juneteenth is not only a day to celebrate freedom, but also a time to reflect on the struggles of the past, honor the achievements of African Americans, and renew commitments to justice, equality, and unity in our communities.
Strategic Foresight III – The “Quiet Part”
Strategic Foresight III - "The Quiet Part" Emergency Management Once Removed July 12, 2024 By Jim Mullen “Strategic foresight’s” absence was evident on January 6, 2021. Warnings signs were clearly “missed. Outnumbered, heroic police officers held the line that day, preventing a coup. Must they stand alone next time? [...]
Strategic Foresight II
The non-partisan federal Government Accountability Office (GAO ) is entrusted with responsibility “to investigate and oversee the activities of the executive branch, to control the use of federal funds….” Housed within GAO, the Center for Strategic Foresight analyzes trends that will likely impact the federal government and society in the next 5-15 years.
Happy Pride Month 2024
Happy Pride Month! By Jasmine May Each June, the LGBTQIA+ community celebrates Pride Month which started after the 1969 Stonewall Uprising in New York. Pride Month serves as a tribute to the history and influence of the community worldwide while also standing against discrimination and violence. It [...]
Strategic Foresight I: A Pathway to National Resilience
The non-partisan federal Government Accountability Office (GAO ) is entrusted with responsibility “to investigate and oversee the activities of the executive branch, to control the use of federal funds….” Housed within GAO, the Center for Strategic Foresight analyzes trends that will likely impact the federal government and society in the next 5-15 years.
Rosie the Riveter
Rosie the Riveter By Nancy Aird The iconic face of Rosie promoted the female defense workers during World War II, but the name of the worker was unknown. The first poster image was titled “We Can Do It!”. J. Howard Miller created the iconic women in a red bandana [...]
A Salute to “Rosies” Past and Present
It never hurts to look back on our history, if for no other reason than to avoid repeating it!
Women in Leadership Profile: Assistant Chief Martin
Women in Leadership Profile: Assistant Chief Martin By Deb Moller Assistant Chief Martin of the Washington State Patrol has a strong memory of being five years old, seeing a police car, and knowing that when she grew up, she would work in law enforcement. For AC Martin, this wasn’t [...]
Not Nearly Enough
Even predictable natural disasters frequently catch elected officials by surprise. A discouraging number of elected officials and senior staff act as if foreseeing and managing potential disaster impacts is a job for “another budget cycle.” So what are they doing in the meantime? Not nearly enough”.
After the Wildfire – Recovery and Reclamation of Land Tips
After the Wildfire – Recovery and Reclamation of Land Tips By Nancy Aird As the population builds out into rural areas, the chances of wildfire impacting your life increases with damage possible away from the direct wildfire. The severity of the fire impacts not only the vegetation we see, [...]
Are You Wildfire Ready?
ARE YOU WILDFIRE READY? Mitigate, Prepare and Prevent By Nancy Aird The wildland urban interface (WUI) is the area where homes are built near or among lands prone to wildland fire. Homeowners value their privacy, natural beauty, recreational opportunities and affordable living created by buying in neighborhoods built in [...]
What Goes Around…
The Emergency Management Performance Grant (EMPG) program has long been the life’s blood of state and local government’s ability to prepare, mitigate, respond, and recover from disasters.
Goldilocks Zone Resilience Against Climate Change
Weather specifically happens over a period of hours or days, while climate influences show over years.
Why We Need More Women in Leadership Roles!
From 2015 to 2018, the Center put on four Women in Leadership Forums centered on different topics from HSEM, Criminal Justice, Information Technology, and Politics.
Whodunnitt!
WHODUNNITT! By Jim Mullen I have observed the renewal of a “debate” of sorts that seems to preoccupy some emergency management academics and practitioners: aren’t most disasters man- made and not ”natural?” -an interesting proposition if there weren’t more pragmatic concerns for emergency managers. We could trace our problems [...]
Women in Leadership Symposium 2024
This year's symposium will center around the importance of fostering robust and dynamic relationships and partnerships with women in Resilience Management and associated fields
The Rocky Road Ahead
The Rocky Road Ahead Emergency Management Once Removed January 31, 2023 By Jim Mullen “Wake me up when it’s all over, when I’m wiser and I’m older…” * Emergency managers (state and local) may be excused for feeling this way during most election years, when relatively minor incidents can [...]
The Blame Game
The Blame Game Emergency Management Once Removed January 16, 2023 By Jim Mullen Major disasters occur all the time, usually resulting in inquiries about the degree of advance warning, or the level of preparation of authorities for a worst-case scenario. “Blame” most often accompanies catastrophic events when perceptions are [...]
The Earth is “Illin”
The Earth is "Illin" Emergency Management Once Removed December 19, 2023 By Jim Mullen Last May the Associated Press reported that a study by the international Earth Commission (our planet’s annual “wellness check”) suggests that Planet Earth has entered the danger zone with respect to climatic impacts on “phosphorus [...]
Beware of “MDM”
In this final summary of the recent annual forum of the National Emergency Management Association held in Memphis, Tennessee in October, I found most compelling the panel discussion entitled “Combating Contested Information During Disaster Response and Recovery” addressed the emerging threat of what is called “MDM”: meaning Misinformation, Dis-information, and Mal-information.
More AI – from the National Emergency Management Association (NEMA) Annual Forum, October 2023
A follow- up to my recent post (“A Thought about Taking the AI Plunge”) on the risk/reward associated embracing artificial intelligence comes from the National Emergency Management Association (NEMA) October 2023 forum panel discussion on this subject.
A Thought About Taking the AI Plunge
The rising angst over the apparent advance in artificial intelligence, or AI, called to mind the limerick (“Daisy…” etc.) that HAL, the state-of-the-art computer in the film “2001, A Space Odyssey” was reduced to repeating when HAL’S human soul mate (Dave) attempted to unplug him/it (?). HAL survived, but it did not go well for “Dave”.
Security at Home
Shortly after the audacious 2008 Mumbai, India terrorist attack which took 160 lives, a Seattle Police Department Assistant Chief mused that a similarly trained team could paralyze a city like Seattle for a “considerable” time. Mumbai illustrated how a team of well-trained bad actors could exact considerable damage.
Musings on the Illusion of Certainty
“The great deception of life is to assume that what is so today will be so tomorrow” (former Senator Bill Bradley, writing in ”Time Past, Time Present).
Volunteer to Change the World by Planting Trees
Volunteer to Change the World by Planting Trees Trees are Resilience Equalizers By Nancy Aird Arbor Day (April 28) encourages us to join the world in making a step to resolving disparity, inequality and environmental justice for mankind by reforesting rural and urban land. Nature-poor neighborhoods negatively [...]