Editors: Reporters and photographers are welcome to attend the workshop. For a complete schedule of events, please call (303) 492-4007.
The front-line managers who respond to extreme natural events such as earthquakes and hurricanes will be among 375 people gathering in Boulder July 11-14 to attend the University of Colorado at Boulder's Natural Hazards Center 29th annual workshop.
The event, which includes invited participants from across the United States and several other nations, also will deal with issues related to technological disasters and terrorist attacks. This year's topics include "Hazards and Disasters in a Homeland Security Environment," "From the Ashes of the 2003 California Wildfires: Perspectives on the Future," and "Public Health, Bioterrorism and National Security."
The Hazards Research and Applications Workshop will be held at the Millennium Harvest House at 1345 28th St. in Boulder. The event is not open to public.
On July 13, a panel featuring Roger Pielke Sr., professor of atmospheric science at Colorado State University, and Klaus Wolter, climatologist and research associate with the CU-Boulder-based Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences, will address the special problems presented by slow-onset disasters such as drought, global climate change and desertification.
A four-hour field trip on July 11 will address the growing threat of wildfires as increasing numbers of people move into forested areas of the West.
The Sept. 11 terrorist attacks had a major impact on the work of people who deal with natural disasters. The agency responsible for responding to catastrophic natural events, the Federal Emergency Management Agency, which will be well represented at the workshop, is now part of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.
The Natural Hazards Center, part of CU-Boulder's Institute of Behavioral Science, is funded by a consortium of agencies including the National Science Foundation and FEMA. The center serves as an information clearinghouse for disaster researchers and professionals, and publishes several periodicals including a newsletter sent to more than 15,000 recipients around the world.
For information visit the center's Web site at .