From emergency management and environmental protection officials to public health and nuclear power industry representatives, more than two dozen students graduated from the Center for Homeland Defense an Security Radiological Emergency Management Program during a ceremony at the Naval Postgraduate School’s Herrmann Hall in Monterey, CA, on Thursday, Aug. 22.
In addition to remarks from CHDS Deputy Director Jodi Stiles and REP Director Stan McKinney, FEMA Technological Hazards Division Director Bruce Foreman told the graduates they “would do great things” in their careers and encouraged them to “continue to think like a scientist” and to “make sure we know what we know” in the quest to “solve complex problems.”
“Wisdom,” he said, “is understanding what you don’t know.”
Among those who graduated as part of Cohort 2401 from the program included U.S. Department of Energy Emergency Management Specialist Wade Gough, Illinois Emergency Management Agency & Office of Homeland Security Radiological Emergency Assessment Center (REAC) Section Manager Todd Lafrenz, Ohio Environmental Protection Agency Radiological Safety Program Lead Chloe Mercier, and Institute of Nuclear Power Operations Emergency Manager Rick Doremus.
Gough said he previously applied to both the REP program and the CHDS Pacific Executive Leaders Program before being accepted to REP, which he said offered the “ability to communicate across a broad spectrum of professionals in the field at the local, county, federal level” as well as “broader-level professionals in the field and in other specialties.”
The former U.S. Department of Homeland Security critical infrastructure and chemical security official who retired from the U.S. Coast Guard after more than two decades said the program was an opportunity to “expand the network and to help validate our programs.”
“Academically and professionally, I have a lot of theorized notions and positions on how things work and how things are promoted,” Gough said, “and to be able to come [to CHDS] with professionals that have been in their field from very early, who are new, to ones that have been in there for 20–30 years and to use those people as soundboards was extremely helpful for me. I think it makes lifelong connections that will help me professionally. Moving forward, becoming part of the alumni and the network is an incredible opportunity to grow connections, to use incredible professional relationships in the future to problem solve, and to make a huge difference in national and regional preparedness—not just for radiological [safety issues] but for other disasters across the United States.”
Lafrenz said others in his organization had participated in the REP program and “kind of put it on my radar,” and he was encouraged by management to apply. “I got in and I’m very happy I did,” he said. “It was a really great experience. Both of the [in-residence] sessions were very different than a lot of the professional training I’ve been to. You’re sitting there with a room full of smart people who are very passionate about what they do and all levels of emergency management and it was just very energizing to be in that room with people who talk very openly and honestly about their challenges and their ideas, and it’s nice to know that there’s a lot of smart people out there who really care about this stuff. Then, I found a lot of the presenters and what we were asked to do in the readings very thought-provoking. So it’s nice just to be intellectually challenged versus death by PowerPoint.”
“I think I’m bringing back a lot of ideas to our agency, and then truly the network of people I’ve met and developed [at REP] is exceptional because if there ever is this big event we all prepare for but hope never happens I know who to call and that’s the real value. You know the people you’re talking to on the other end of the phone and I think that’s a real value of this.”
Mercier said her favorite thing about the REP program was “all the relationships that I’ve built. I feel like we’ve become family and I know who to go to if I have any questions or concerns. So overall it’s been a really great experience and I feel like I have a whole new family that I can fall back on.” She added that she aspires to work from FEMA or NOAA or other federal agency “so I’m really excited to try to bring that experience into future positions in my career and also to build a better program overall.”
Doremus said REP offered an opportunity to continue rebuilding connections in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, noting that a fellow employee has previously attended the program and returned with high praise. Noting that he was the lone nuclear power industry representative in his cohort, Doremus said he would continue to encourage other nuclear industry people to attend.
A highlight of the program, he said, was an ANI presentation that he ended up sending to his organization for use with a U.S. nuclear facilities managers working group.
“My knowledge and skills are expanded and connections are expanded, and it just makes me more effective in trying to improve the nuclear power industry,” he said. “Again, we’re somewhat insular and now I have a broader picture. What they’re doing inside the fence isn’t going to help the folks outside the fence, so we need to help them do what needs to be done to expand their skills.”
Radiological Emergency Preparedness Program Cohort 2401 Participants:
- Shelby Bergmann – REP Program Manager, GEMA/HS – Atlanta, GA
- Dugger Camp – EMS/IMAAC Director, FEMA – Washington, DC
- Margaret Campbell – Emergency Management Coordinator, Hood County – Granbury, TX
- Andrea Cherepy – Chief of Staff, EPA/Office of Radiation & Indoor Air – Fairfax, VA
- Rick Doremus – Manager, Emergency Management, INPO – Atlanta, GA
- Juan Garcia – Associate Health Physicist, California Department of Public Health, Radiologic Health Branch – Sacramento, CA
- Elizabeth Gilboy – Assistant Chief of REP, NH Homeland Security and Emergency Management – Concord, NH
- Wade Gough – Emergency Management Specialist, U.S. Dept of Energy – Poulsbo, WA
- Christopher Hedges – Firefighter/Technical Rescue/Hazmat Technician, Philadelphia Fire Department – Philadelphia, PA
- Joshua Hodge – EM Specialist, Wake County Emergency Management – Raleigh, NC
- Justin Hoesman – Senior Exercise Planner, DOE NNSA – Lancaster, PA
- Chad Hopponen – Regional Outreach Coordinator, DoE/NNSA RAP7 – Livermore, CA
- Mackinley (Mack) Johnson – REP Planning and Training Specialist, Nebraska Emergency Management Agency – Lincoln, NE
- Todd Lafrenz – Radiological Emergency Assessment Center (REAC) Section Manager, Illinois Emergency Management Agency & Office of Homeland Security – Springfield, IL
- James McCorry – CMO Riverside Doctors’ Hospital Williamsburg, Riverside Health System – Williamsburg, VA
- Daniel McElhinney – Federal Preparedness Coordinator and National Preparedness Division Director, FEMA R1 – Cambridge, MA
- Chloe Mercier – Radiological Safety Program Lead, Ohio Environmental Protection Agency – Columbus, OH
- John Pisowicz – Emergency Preparedness Coordinator, Porter County Health Department – Valparaiso, IN
- Timothy Reeder – Safety/Emergency Management, Presbyterian Santa Fe Medical Center – Santa Fe, NM
- Stewart Robertson – Major over the Counter-Terrorism Division, South Carolina Law Enforcement Division (SLED) – Columbia, SC
- Ryan Rockabrand – Senior Advisor, NNSA – Washington, DC
- Michelle Sharman – Emergency Management Specialist, DHS.FEMA – Hammond, LA
- Jordan Westgate – REP Operations Officer, Lucas County EMA – Toledo, OH
- Christopher Whelan – Senior Integrator – Nuclear & Countering WMD, United States Army Combined Arms Center – Fort Leavenworth, KS
- Blain Workman – Health Physicist, Arkansas Department of Health – Searcy, AR
