Michael Lindell, a professor of urban planning at Texas A&M University’s College of Architecture, will use his expertise in environmental hazards, emergency management, and research methods as a new member of the National Earthquake Hazards Reduction Program’s Advisory Committee on Earthquake Hazards Reduction.
Lindell, who holds a Ph.D. in social and quantitative psychology from the University of Colorado and is a faculty fellow at Texas A&M’s Hazard Reduction and Recover Center, noted the significance of the inclusion of social scientists such as himself on the committee.
His appointment, he said, “reflects an increasing recognition of the contributions that our disciplines can make to the reduction of earthquake hazards,” he said.
The committee is responsible for providing guidance and evaluations for a $100-150 million dollar annual program conducted by the Federal Emergency Management Agency, National Institute for Standards and Technology, National Science Foundation, and U.S. Geological Survey.
“I am really pleased to have been appointed to the committee,” said Lindell. “As the only committee member from an urban planning department, it will be important for me to ensure that there is adequate funding for research and technical assistance programs that are directed to more effective land use decisions and other nonengineering activities,” he said.
Lindell will joining other new committee members James E. Beavers, director of the University of Tennessee at Knoxville’s Construction Industry Research and Policy Center, and Brent H. Woodworth, president/CEO of Global Crisis Services, Inc., Calabasas, Calif. Their appointments were recently announced by James Turner, deputy director of the National Institute of Standards and Technology and acting NEHRP chairman.
Lindell and his fellow appointees join a group of 13 previously appointed academic, industry and government experts on the committee.
Established by the Earthquake Hazards Reduction Act of 1977, NEHRP is the federal government's program to reduce the risks to life and property from earthquakes.
- August 27, 2008 -
