Dr. Jason Combs
geography professor, 308.865.8605.
“Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Response: What I’ve Learned and What We Can Do Better” will be the focus of a presentation Tuesday, April 10, at the University of Nebraska at Kearney.
Dr. Wiley Thompson, head of the Department of Geography and Environmental Engineering at West Point, will give the presentation at 12:30 p.m. in Copeland Hall, Room 130. The presentation is free and open to the public.
Dr. Thompson is an army colonel and military aviator as well as professor at West Point. His field work includes leading the U.S. military aviation response to the 2005 Kashmir earthquake and working with NGOs in the 2012 Haitian earthquake response to study civil-military cooperation. He has published numerous studies focused on research of hazards, disaster response, development and conflict.
“In the October 2005 Kashmir earthquake disaster relief effort, members of the United States military integrated with civilian and other national military organizations to create a cooperative environment while lending their unique capabilities to the relief effort,” Dr. Thompson said.
His study, “On Fire, Up a Creek and Blown Away: An Assessment of Geo-Information Utilization During the 2005 Kashmir Earthquake Response and Recommendations to Improve Future Use,” also focused on improving emergency response.
“Recent experience has shown that there is a gap between GIS technologies and geo-information management tools and their employment during disaster response operations,” he said.
His presentation is sponsored by the UNK Department of Geography.
