Jeff Schlegelmilch has advised leaders on preparedness systems and policy at all levels of government. He is an Opinion Contributor with The Hill and is frequently utilized as a subject matter expert for numerous media outlets. He is also the author Rethinking Readiness: A Brief Guide to Twenty-First-Century Megadisasters, and co-author of Catastrophic Incentives: Why Our Approaches To Disasters Keep Falling Short, both published by Columbia University Press.
He holds a Master’s degree in Public Health from UMASS Amherst in Health Policy and Management and a Master’s in Business Administration from Quinnipiac University.
Thomas Chandler, Ph.D., is the Deputy Director, and Research Scientist at the National Center for Disaster Preparedness, an Adjunct Associate Professor at Teachers College, and an Associate Member of the Columbia Climate School faculty, Columbia University. He focuses on post-disaster housing and economic recovery, mass care community sheltering and relocation assistance, pandemic preparedness and response, geographic and social networks, and community preparedness. He is the Director of NCDP’s FEMA training projects.
He has also been the Principal Investigator of a U.S. Centers for Disease Control (CDC) research study, “Evaluation of the Public Health System Response to Hurricane Sandy in the NY Metro Area”; Principal Investigator of a U.S. Office of the Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response (ASPR) research / training project, “Visualizing Social Media: New Tools for Research and Practice”; Co-Principal Investigator of a research grant funded by the Gulf of Mexico Research Initiative, “Understanding Resilience Attributes for Children, Youth, and Communities in the Wake of the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill”; Investigator for a grant funded by GSK: “Resilient Children/Resilient Communities Initiative”; and Co-Principal Investigator of a grant from the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene: “Performance Measure Development Project”. His work has appeared in Disaster Medicine and Public Health Preparedness, The Journal of Social Studies Research, and Interactive Learning Environments.
Peggy Chao is the Director of Operations at National Center for Disaster Preparedness (NCDP). She has a master’s degree in International Business from Columbia University’s School of International and Public Affairs and a bachelor’s degree in Economics from New York University.
Her prior experience includes an administrative position at Rutgers-Public Health Research Institute, data analysis at KPMG, financial positions in Fortune 500 companies, and her own business specializing in high end juvenile products.
Zain Alabweh is a Staff Associate at the National Center for Disaster Preparedness (NCDP) working on the Resilient Children, Resilient Communities initiative and projects related to mitigating and adapting to climate risks. She joins NCDP from the International Research Institute for Climate and Society where she worked on managing climate risk for agriculture, public health, and energy.
Zain holds a Master of Public Administration in Development Practice degree from the School of International and Public Affairs at Columbia University. She has experience in political analysis in the Middle East and North Africa region, customs and trade development in Jordan, developing collaborative management guidelines for protected areas in Cambodia, working in the fields of climate information and food security in Latin America and the Caribbean, and coordinating Middlebury College’s Arabic study abroad program in Jordan. Zain speaks Arabic, English and Spanish.
Thalia Balkaran is an Postdoctoral Research Scientist at the National Center for Disaster Preparedness. Her focus is on adapting the Resilient Children/ Resilient Communities Initiative to the Small Islands Context in the Caribbean. Her area of expertise includes small islands, disaster risk reduction, vulnerability, resilience and sustainability. Thalia holds a PhD in Environmental Management from The University of the West Indies.
Laudan Behrouz-Ghayebi is rejoining NCDP as a Project Manager focusing on the FEMA training grants. She started her public health career working for NCDP primarily focused on the Student Surge Capacity for Outbreak Investigation (Team Epi!) program while contributing to the CDC-funded web-based training programs from 2004-2011. She then went on to work for Columbia University’s G.H. Sergievsky Center to manage a research study, “the Genetic Epidemiology of Alzheimer’s Disease in African Americans,” funded by the National Institute of Aging.
After relocating to Maine, Laudan worked closely with local and regional government agencies on various community-based public health campaigns. She also served as an Infectious Disease Epidemiologist for the Maine Center for Disease Control & Prevention, as Program Manager and Adjunct Faculty for the University of New England’s (UNE) Graduate Programs in Public Health, and as Adjunct Faculty for UNE’s School of Nursing and Population Health. Among the courses Laudan taught were Epidemiology, Infectious Disease Epidemiology and Global Health. Most recently, Laudan was a Writer & Researcher for One River Grants, a New York State-based grants development and consulting firm.
Laudan received her MPH in Epidemiology and Global Health from Columbia University’s Mailman School of Public Health.
Lucia Bragg is a Policy Manager and Instructor for the National Center for Disaster Preparedness (NCDP) focusing on the FEMA housing and economic recovery training grants. She has been working in government affairs at the state and federal levels for a collective nine years. Prior to joining NCDP, Lucia directed federal disaster and FEMA policy advocacy for the National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL) for nearly five years, lobbying Congress, and the administration on disaster policy during the development and passage of the Disaster Recovery Reform Act, COVID-19 national emergency declaration and stimulus packages, transportation bills, and myriad supplemental disaster aid packages. Lucia also started and directed NCSL’s Public-Private Partnership on Disaster Mitigation and Recovery – a bipartisan task force of state legislators representing disaster-impacted districts and private sector partners from a range of sectors. Lucia holds an MA from Columbia University’s Climate School and BA in political science from Middlebury College.
Hannah Dancy is a Project Coordinator at the National Center for Disaster Preparedness (NCDP), where she supports the planning and implementation of FEMA training grant-based courses about post-disaster economic and housing recovery.
Prior to her time at NCDP, Hannah worked at Teachers College in the Digital Futures Institute, where she focused on introducing new learning technologies and processes to faculty in hybrid settings. She holds a Master of Arts in Ecology, Environmental and Conservation Biology from Columbia University, where she focused on the wildlife trade, captive animal behavior, and science communication. She is interested in the intersection of climate and environmental change with disaster preparedness, and how we can use effective science communication to prepare communities for these disasters.
Josh DeVincenzo, Ed.D., is the Assistant Director for Education and Training and Adjunct Lecturer at the National Center for Disaster Preparedness, Columbia Climate School, Columbia University. He recently received his doctorate from Columbia University Teachers College with his dissertation on “Enhancing Capacity in Adult Climate Literacy: Investigating Sustainability Mindsets in the U.S. Emergency Management Profession”.
Dr. DeVincenzo focuses on developing learning experiences associated with FEMA training projects that navigate housing, economic recovery, mass care and sheltering, pandemic planning, and climate literacy. He has developed instructor-led and web-based curricula regarding financial literacy, economic impact analysis, and community partnerships.
He hopes to create accessible and quality educational programming that benefits the common good at scale. He holds a master’s degree in Education Policy, Organization, and Leadership from the University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign and a Doctorate in Education from Teachers College, Columbia University, focusing on Adult Learning and Cognitive Science. He has published his work on climate pedagogy and cognition in esteemed journals and outlets such as the Journal of International Affairs, Routledge, State of Planet, and The Hill.
Denise Dunlop is the Administrative Coordinator for The National Center for Disaster Preparedness. Ms. Dunlop began as the Administrative Assistant of the Pediatric Preparedness Program in May 2003. As Coordinator she is responsible for day-to-day financial accounting and office operations for the Center. Prior to joining Columbia, Ms. Dunlop was the Administrative Assistant/Office Manager for The Children’s Hospital at Montefiore Medical Center.
Lauren Esposito is the Senior Project Manager at the National Center for Disaster Preparedness (NCDP). In her role at NCDP, she supports the FEMA training grants; the Pandemic Response and Resource Initiative (PRRI) and Covid-19 communications; the Resilient Children/Resilient Communities Initiative; and communication development and dissemination efforts for NCDP research, practice, and policy outputs.
Lauren holds a master’s degree in Interactive Media with a concentration in Social Media from Quinnipiac University and earned her Project Management Professional (PMP) certification from the Project Management Institute. Over the past twenty-five years, Lauren has worked in marketing and communications helping organizations, nonprofits, and small business reach their critical goals and outcomes. At NCDP, Lauren is interested in leveraging technologies to improve communication outreach and engagement for emergency preparedness, response, and resilience, Covid-19 pandemic response, climate change impacts and adaptation, and policy development with a special focus on children and disasters.
Antonia Samur is a Senior Staff Associate I. Her role at NCDP includes conducting research and managing initiatives to support disaster planning and community resilience. Antonia currently manages a three-year capacity-building initiative for the child-care sector in Puerto Rico, aiming to enhance institutional preparedness to meet the needs of children in disasters. Under this initiative, she led the development of a training curriculum and delivered training. She also teaches about community engagement in disaster management in the MA in Climate and Society at the Columbia Climate School.
Before NCDP, Antonia worked for the Sustainable Development Solutions Network (SDSN), where she led a global sustainable development education program, and for the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC), where she conducted research and policy analysis on social and economic development issues, including childhood poverty and sustainable development in Latin America.
She holds a dual Master’s degree in International Affairs from the School of International and Public Affairs (SIPA) at Columbia University and the Paris School of International Affairs at Sciences Po. She earned a Bachelor’s degree in Economics from the University of Chile.
Antonia is keenly interested in climate change adaptation, community engagement, participatory planning and public policy, applied research, and education.
Linfan Gan is an Instructional Designer/Staff Associate for the National Center for Disaster Preparedness (NCDP) focusing on FEMA housing and economic recovery training grants. Linfan graduated from Columbia University’s Teachers College with a master’s degree in Instructional Technology and Media last year. She also holds a B.A. in Early Childhood Education and Family Studies from the University of Washington. Before joining NCDP, Linfan worked with the Digital Futures Institute at Teachers College, where she facilitated school faculty with instructional design for their hybrid and online courses. She is interested in education technology with a focus on creating engaging and immersive learning experiences.
Sean Hansen is a Staff Associate III at the National Center for Disaster Preparedness, where he supports applied research efforts related to disaster preparedness, readiness, response, and recovery. In this capacity, he works closely with various stakeholders using mixed-methods research and providing technical expertise to identify areas of vulnerability and strategies for supporting resilient communities. Particular areas of interest include climate-linked disasters and various aspects of psychosocial support, food security, and social cohesion in affected communities.
Sean earned his Master of Public Administration in Development Practice from Columbia University’s School of International and Public Affairs, where he focused on humanitarian response, sustainable development, and disaster preparedness. Before joining NCDP, he worked in Washington, D.C., in policy and advocacy for a consortium of international development and humanitarian organizations. He is especially interested in the links between climate change, humanitarian crises, and conflict.
Shuyang Huang is a Staff Associate working on data management and analysis at NCDP. She earned a Master of Architecture degree from Columbia’s Graduate School of Architecture, Planning, and Preservation (GSAPP) in 2023, and previously obtained an Urban Planning degree there in 2019.
Qëndresa Krasniqi is a Staff Associate at NCDP, where she supports research activities related to resilience building, COVID-19, and climate change. In this capacity, she will work on quantifying different elements of community resilience. Qëndresa earned her Masters in Public Administration in Development Practice from Columbia University’s School of International and Public Affairs, where she focused on social protection and social safety nets and the role of socio-economic and racial inequities on global food & agriculture systems, food security and access to health care services. Before joining NCDP, she taught Economics and worked in policy analysis and research with the IPCC, Health Care Without Harm and the European Stability Initiative (ESI). She is especially interested in incorporating the understanding of social vulnerabilities related to socio-economic and racial inequities in disaster preparedness and recovery.
Abby Meola is a Project Coordinator at the National Center for Disaster Preparedness, where she supports the development of FEMA training courses on climate science and equity. Prior to joining NCDP, she worked on creating and adapting STEM curricula for the Columbia Climate School. She also received an MA in Climate and Society at Columbia, where she focused her studies on climate adaptation and partnered with the Kenya Red Cross Society to enhance the use of climate information for regional decision-making. She leverages data and education expertise from work in private, non-profit, and academic settings to create content that is engaging and accessible.
Dr. Irwin Redlener is a Senior Advisor for the National Center for Disaster Preparedness (NCDP), Columbia Climate School, at Columbia University, which works to understand and improve the nation’s capacity to prepare for, respond to, and recover from disasters. Dr. Redlener founded NCDP in 2003 and served as its director from 2003-2020. He is a nationally recognized expert on disaster preparedness policies, pandemic influenza, the threat of terrorism in the U.S., the impact and consequences of major natural disasters and related issues. Dr. Redlener is the author of The Future of Us: What the Dreams of Children Mean for Twenty-First-Century America which earned the 2020 Gold Nautilus Book Award. He is also the author of Americans At Risk: Why We Are Not Prepared For Megadisasters and What We Can Do Now. Previously, he served as one of the ten members of the congressionally established National Commission on Children and Disasters.
He also serves as a regular Public Health Analyst for MSNBC programs such as the 11th Hour with Brian Williams, Deadline White House with Nicolle Wallace, Katy Tur, and more. Dr. Redlener is also a columnist for The Daily Beast on issues ranging from COVID-19 and public health to children and disaster management.
Dr. Redlener is also President Emeritus and Co-Founder, along with singer-songwriter Paul Simon, of the Children’s Health Fund (CHF), a philanthropic initiative created to develop health care programs in some of the nation’s most medically underserved communities. CHF programs are now active in 25 urban and rural communities around the U.S. providing quality comprehensive medical care to more than 80,000 children each year. Dr. Redlener holds an M.D. degree from the University of Miami School of Medicine, an honorary Doctor of Science degree from Hunter College of the City University of New York and an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters degree from Hofstra University.
Jonathan Sury is a Senior Staff Associate. He holds a master’s degree in public health in Environmental Health Sciences with a concentration in Environment and Molecular Epidemiology from the Mailman School of Public Health, Columbia University. He is currently pursuing a doctoral degree in public health at the Mailman School of Public Health focusing on Leadership in Global Health and Humanitarian Systems.
He has a keen interest in Geographic Information Systems (GIS) and their use in disaster preparedness and recovery. Presently, he contributes to a variety of disaster-related research at NCDP, including evaluating the unanticipated consequences of pandemic flu, determining racially and ethnically appropriate emergency messaging, analyzing the long-term disaster resiliency and recovery issues in the Gulf Coast following Hurricane Katrina, and the measurement and mapping of social vulnerability and the role of place and space in disaster recovery.
Hope Sutherland (they/them) is a Project Coordinator at the National Center for Disaster Preparedness, where they facilitate educational courses on resilience themes. They hold an MA in ‘Climate and Society’ from Columbia Climate School, Columbia University, focusing on climate science, strategic communications, and sustainable development.
Hope is especially interested in climate resilience measures that center on human and environmental health. They believe that proactive hazard mitigation is the perfect opportunity to engage communities in creating more livable, sustainable, and intentional spaces.
Charly Vergara Benjumea is a Business Manager at the National Center for Disaster Preparedness (NCDP), where she supports the Director of Operations with day-to-day financial accounting and office operations for the Center. She has a bachelor’s degree and Latin American and Latino Studies from William Paterson University. Her prior experience includes a Sr. Legal Coordinator position at Unilever.
Alex Yixuan Xu is a part-time Senior Project Coordinator at NCDP, assisting with designing learning experiences for FEMA training projects. She is currently pursuing a Master of Arts in Design and Development of Digital Games for learning at Teachers College, Columbia University.
Alex holds a B.S. in Integrated Digital Media from New York University and is interested in designing accessible learning experiences enabled by educational technology.
Belén Álvarez is a dedicated professional with extensive sustainability and environmental engineering expertise, currently serving as a Research Assistant at the National Center for Disaster Preparedness (NCDP) within Columbia University’s Climate School.Previously, Belén held leadership positions at Inspira Perú Foundation and the Intercorp Group, showcasing expertise in managing large-scale social organizations and spearheading sustainability strategies for a diverse business conglomerate. She has a proven track record of success, overseeing impactful food donation programs and implementing innovative sustainability practices in various industries.In addition to her professional achievements, Belén Álvarez is recognized as a SIPA Environmental Fellow and is pursuing a Master of Public Administration in Environmental Science and Policy. She holds a Bachelor’s degree in Environmental Engineering from Universidad Científica del Sur.
Liliana Funes is working on operations for training programs at the National Center for Disaster Preparedness. She is currently pursuing both a Bachelor of Arts in Climate Systems and Sustainable Development at Columbia College. Her main interests include environmental justice and equity in relation to natural disaster prevention and recovery.
Emily Heard supports the National Center for Disaster Preparedness (NCDP) with a background in child development, resilience research, and emergency management. She is currently pursuing a Master of Public Health at Columbia Mailman School of Public Health with a personal focus on childhood trauma interventions and disaster behavioral health. Prior to joining NCDP, Emily worked in whole community emergency preparedness and in a variety of early childhood development settings focused on the role of emotional regulation in resilience promotion and violence disruption.
Wanyi Huo works at the National Center for Disaster Preparedness (NCDP), assisting with data management and analysis. She earned her B.S. in Mathematics and B.A. in Data Analytics from Denison University and is currently pursuing a Master of Science in Learning Analytics at Teachers College, Columbia University. Wanyi is passionate about using data analytics to improve learning outcomes.
Kainaat Jah is a Graduate Research Assistant in the Education and Training division at NCDP, where she assists with cross-team coordination, grant proposals and Climate School special projects. She has a BSc in Political Science from the Lahore University of Management Sciences, Pakistan. Currently, Kainaat is pursuing an M.A. in Anthropology and Education at Teachers College, Columbia University.
George Johnson is a Graduate Research Assistant at the National Center for Disaster Preparedness (NCDP), where he supports research related to the impacts of tropical cyclones and aboveground storage tank spills on health outcomes. With a B.A. in Public Health from the University of Washington, he is now pursuing his Master of Public Health in Epidemiology at the Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health and is deeply interested in disaster preparedness and emergency response, WASH, and biosecurity.
Philip Kozlowski is a Departmental Research Assistant at the National Center for Disaster Preparedness, where he supports the development of curricula for FEMA training on Climate and Equity and Tribal Resilience. Philip earned his B.A. at the University of Virginia in Environmental Science and Environmental Thought and Practice in May 2023. He is currently earning his M.A. in Columbia Climate School’s Climate and Society Program focusing on Disaster Risk Management. Throughout his career, Philip has been deeply interested in the key connections between interdisciplinary study of the environment through the nexus of climate change.
Emily Padilla-Chicas is a Graduate Research Assistant at the National Center for Disaster Preparedness (NCDP). Within NCDP, she dedicates her efforts to the Resilient Children, Resilient Communities initiative, which aims to equip Puerto Rican communities with effective disaster planning strategies, particularly tailored to safeguard children.
With a Bachelor of Arts in Foreign Affairs from the University of Virginia and currently pursuing a Master of Science in Urban Planning at Columbia’s Graduate School of Architecture, Planning, and Preservation (GSAPP), Emily’s academic journey has been guided by her commitment to bridging the gap between design and policy in the context of sustainability. Her research explores transatlantic urban policy practices, emphasizing the integration of climate change mitigation strategies into urban planning frameworks.
Emily is committed to translating her academic research into practical solutions that benefit communities. With a focus on inclusivity and engaging stakeholders, she aims to develop resilient communities capable of addressing the challenges posed by climate change.
Marion Powell is a Graduate Research Assistant at the National Center for Disaster Preparedness, where she supports the Emergency Financial Empowerment project. Marion earned her B.A. in Anthropology and B.S. in Environmental Science from Willamette University in 2022 and is now pursuing an M.A. in Climate and Society at the Columbia Climate School, focusing on Disaster Risk Management. Marion has previous experience working in community-based organizations as a climate justice organizer and is interested in equitably empowering local communities with the resources needed to be climate resilient.
Jie (Jolin) Shen works at the National Center for Disaster Preparedness (NCDP), assisting with marketing and outreach. She is currently pursuing a Master of Arts in Communication and Education at Teachers College, Columbia University. Jolin holds a B.A. in Communication and Cinema and Media Studies from the University of Washington, Seattle. She is interested in studying the role of communication technologies in education and has worked for various companies across marketing, public relations, and communications.
Thao Vu is a Graduate Research Assistant in Education & Training at the National Center for Disaster Preparedness (NCDP), where she supports learning experience design for FEMA training projects. Currently pursuing a Master of Arts in Instructional Technology & Media on a Fulbright Scholarship, Thao is passionate about leveraging educational technology to advance education equity and accessibility.
Jingya Yu is a casual student worker at the National Center for Disaster Preparedness. She is a skilled data analyst and researcher with expertise in biostatistics and data science. Currently pursuing a Master of Science degree from Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health, she excels in data preprocessing, analysis, and visualization. Jingya is dedicated to enhancing disaster response efforts through data-driven insights and research.
