What's your day-to-day role in stewarding university resources?
As the Director of Emergency Management and Mission Continuity I am responsible for a variety of program initiatives across campus. The majority of our program resources are focused on executive and community preparedness programs. These programs coordinate with multidisciplinary groups to ensure senior leadership, departments, schools, and students are equipped with means to respond prior to an incident. This past year Student Affairs, University Police, University Fire and the Office of Emergency Management conducted an Active Shooter Drill at Dutton Hall to ensure community members know how to respond during an actual severe violence event.

What's an example of how you delight customers?
My fundamental approach to emergency management is community centered, as each member of our campus is treated as a customer. I don’t believe our approach is unique as community preparedness in a shared responsibility, which must be practiced to ensure proficiency. The office has made a concerted effort to work more closely with Student Affairs and University Police to ensure a higher level of readiness by activating the Emergency Operations Center during special events to increase emergency coordination awareness.

"Each day I have the opportunity to support diverse community initiatives and work with faculty, students, and staff members who bring unique perspectives on ways to increase community preparedness and institutional resilience."

What do you like best about working at UC Davis?
What I like most about working at UC Davis is being able to serve a diverse and engaging community. Each day I have the opportunity to support diverse community initiatives and work with faculty, students, and staff members who bring unique perspectives on ways to increase community preparedness and institutional resilience. This allows us to tailor emergency management programs and communication to meet the needs of our diverse UC Davis community.

What's the most challenging part of your job?
The most challenging part of my job is finding new and exciting ways to engage the community on emergency management and business continuity topics. Our community experiences a high turnover rate due to the circular nature of university campuses. We always strive to develop new and interesting ways to socialize community preparedness and mission continuity by associating training with everyday impacts to show the importance of planning prior to an incident. Each year we must train portions of our community on key life safety procedures and communication systems to ensure community members are aware and know how to respond when an incident occurs.

Tell us one thing about yourself that most people wouldn't know.
One thing most people wouldn’t know about me is that I love to cook. I’ve enjoyed cooking since I was young. In my spare time, I host community gatherings and BBQs at my home, serving some of my specials and cookbook recipes.

What's something you like to do when you aren't at work?
I love to ski and snowboard. I was raised on the East Coast and have been skiing since I was 4. In college, my brother and I switched to snowboarding and I have been hooked ever since. Over the last year I’ve spent considerable time snowboarding in Tahoe with UC Davis colleagues and friends.