Jeff Orrock, Meteorologist-In-Charge, NOAA, NWS, Wakefield, VA

Jeff Orrock is the Meteorologist In Charge of the National Weather Service (NWS) Office in Wakefield and graduated from Florida State University in 1994 with a degree in Meteorology. Jeff began his 31 year career with the NWS serving in Pensacola. Jeff then served in the Austin/San Antonio office from 1995 to 1998. Jeff returned to the mid Atlantic serving in the Morehead City and Raleigh NWS offices until 2011.Jeff moved back to Virginia in 2001 as the Meteorologist In Charge of the NWS Wakefield Office. Jeff has participated in surveys and reviews of numerous significant wind events including the Jarrell Texas Tornado, April 11th, 2011 Tornadoes, The 2012 Derecho, Tappahannock Tornado, Hurricane Florence Tornadoes, Veterans Day tornado outbreak, Super Tuesday tornado outbreak and more.

Christopher Davis, GIS Coordinator, Old Dominion University

Christopher Davis is a GIS Coordinator at Old Dominion University in Norfolk, Virginia. In his role as GIS Coordinator, Christopher serves as the main point of contact for all ODU campus-related GIS data, maps, and web applications and develops maintains geospatial products to meet campus and research initiatives. Christopher holds a B.S. in Geography & Atmospheric Sciences from the University of Georgia and a Certificate in Geographic Information Sciences from Kennesaw State University.

Katie Carter, Emergency Response Specialist, NOAA, NWS, Wakefield, VA

Katie Carter is a Meteorologist and Emergency Response Specialist with the National Weather Service, where she provides critical weather information to Virginia’s leaders and decision-makers to guide resource staging, shelter coordination, evacuations, and other life-saving actions. With more than a decade of experience in television news—covering everything from lake-effect snow in Michigan to hurricanes and tornadoes in Virginia—Katie pairs her meteorology expertise with a strong communications background. Her experience leading the Virginia Department of Emergency Management’s Partners in Preparedness program honed her skill in working with trusted messengers to amplify safety information, ensuring forecasts are understood, trusted, and acted upon before severe weather strikes.

Daniel Johnson, Hazard Mitigation Planner, VDEM

Daniel Johnson is the State Hazard Mitigation Planner for the Virginia Department of Emergency Management in Richmond, VA. He attended Millersville University in Pennsylvania where he earned his bachelor’s degree in meteorology with a minor in broadcast communications. Daniel’s career began in 2010 at the Baltimore/Washington National Weather Service in Sterling, VA where he studied flood mitigation and weather forecasting. His career then took him into broadcast meteorology for a little over a decade before he decided to return to mitigation with the Virginia Department of Emergency Management. Daniel’s goal throughout his career, whether meteorology or emergency management, has been to make sure communities are prepared and safe before, during, and after all hazards. At the Virginia Department of Emergency Management, Daniel maintains and updates the Commonwealth’s State Hazard Mitigation Plan. He also works to build close relationships with stakeholders, other Virginia officials, and local communities to improve in the development of effective and life-saving emergency plans. He uses his unique background and knowledge in meteorology to better understand the hazards that impact our communities within our ever-changing climate, while building toward a more resilient society through stronger mitigation actions and future projects.

Dr. Monica Arul, Assistant Professor, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Virginia Tech
Dr. Monica Arul is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at Virginia Tech (VT). She leads the Wind Engineering for Resilient Infrastructure & Society (WERISE) Lab, where her research focuses on improving community resilience by addressing infrastructure challenges posed by extreme wind hazards. She recently received an award from the American Association for Wind Engineering (AAWE) for her research on thunderstorms.

Dr. Joshua Behr, Research Professor, Virginia Modeling, Analysis, and Simulation Center (VMASC), Old Dominion University
Dr. Joshua Behr is research professor at the Virginia Modeling, Analysis and Simulation Center (VMASC). He conducts studies, performs modeling, and publishes insights related to resilience, catastrophic events, recovery, and supply chain material & labor convergence. This entails leveraging natural systems data to model storms and flooding, built environment data to characterize the physical structures in our communities, and social-behavioral data related to population perceptions and behavioral response.

Jane Wenner, Emergency Management Coordinator, Gloucester, VA

William Drewery, Emergency Management Coordinator, Isle of Wight, VA
Will serves as Battalion Chief of Administrative Services and the Emergency Management Coordinator for Isle of Wight County Fire Rescue, where he leads strategic planning, interagency coordination, and emergency preparedness initiatives for one of Virginia's fastest-growing counties. A Franklin, Virginia native and third-generation firefighter, Will began his career of public service as a volunteer with Franklin Fire & Rescue in high school earning his initial firefighting and EMS certifications before graduation. He went on to serve in emergency communications with the Southampton County Sheriff's Office and later the City of Richmond Department of Emergency Communications, where he advanced to Senior Fire Communications Officer and Training Officer. Returning home, he became the Emergency Communications Center Supervisor for Isle of Wight County overseeing deployment of Text-to-911, establishment of an Emergency Medical Dispatch program, and a major CAD system rebuild. He is also FEMA-certified Communication Unit Leader (COM-L) and has deployed statewide in that capacity to both planned events and emergencies. Before joining Isle of Wight Fire Rescue in his current leadership role, Will served as Public Health Emergency Manager for the Virginia Department of Health's Western Tidewater District, where he directed the district's all-hazards emergency response and led its COVID-19 operations, including testing, vaccination, and mitigation efforts.

Jason Elmore, Deputy Communications Director & Chief Agency Spokesperson, VDEM

Jason Elmore has more than 15 years experience in communications as a public information officer. His career started in 1993 as a firefighter/medic with the City of Colonial Heights Fire and EMS Department. In 2001, he was hired by Chesterfield County Fire and EMS and was promoted to Lieutenant in 2006. Jason began serving as the public information officer in 2009 and served in that position until 2020. After 27 years in the fire service, he switched roles and is now the deputy communications director for the Virginia Department of Emergency Management. Jason has a Bachelor's degree in Accounting, a Master's degree in Divinity, and the Exectuive Public Information Officer designation from FEMA's Emergency Management Institute. Jason is a resident of Chesterfield County, VA and also is a pastor at Providence United Methodist Church in N. Chesterfield.

Vladimir Tamashiro-Loma, Operations Manager, Team Rubicon & President, VA VOAD

Vladimir Tamashiro-Loma is an Operations Manager with Team Rubicon, where he leads disaster response, readiness, and capacity-building efforts across Virginia and Washington, D.C., while also overseeing regional capacity development from the Mid-Atlantic through the Northeast. He serves as one of Team Rubicon’s liaisons to FEMA’s National Response Coordination Center and has deployed on dozens of disaster response operations nationwide.
A graduate of The George Washington University and a certified Virginia Professional Emergency Manager, Vladimir has been part of Team Rubicon since 2014. He held leadership roles in Field Readiness, Training, and Membership at the local, state, and regional levels before joining the operations staff in 2018. Beyond Team Rubicon, Vladimir serves as President of Virginia VOAD (Voluntary Organizations Active in Disaster), where he has been a board member since 2021, and he also sits on the board of the Virginia Emergency Management Association. His past service includes work with the Shenandoah Mountain Rescue Group and as a Type 2 Wildland Firefighter with the Bureau of Land Management.

Brian Mosier, Traffic Operations Manager, Hampton Roads District, VDOT

Brian Mosier serves as the Traffic Operations Manager for the Hampton Roads District of the Virginia Department of Transportation, where he oversees the district’s Traffic Operations Center (TOC), Safety Service Patrol (SSP) and Incident Management Programs and the Jamestown-Scotland Ferry Operations. His team manages systems and operations that support incident detection, response, and safe quick roadway clearance for planned and unplanned road impacting events in Hampton Roads. He holds a Bachelor of Science in Interdisciplinary Studies (Business and Psychology) from Liberty University and has completed coursework toward a Master of Arts in Management and Leadership. He also earned an Associate of Applied Science in Construction Technology and the Professional Manager Certification (PMC) from the Community College of the Air Force.

Daniel Ronald Brooks, Community Forestry Specialist - Capital District, Virginia Department of Forestry

Daniel Ronald Brooks is a Hampton Roads native, and an Arborist by trade.  After gaining incredibly marketable civilian skills as an infantryman and a martial arts instructor in the United States Marine Corps, he was conned by a friend into dragging branches for a tree-care company.  Nearly 9 years later, he is now an ISA-Certified Arborist, an ISA-Qualified Tree Risk Assessor, and currently has the honor of serving the Commonwealth as a Community Forestry Specialist for the Virginia Department of Forestry.  He resides in Hampton with his beloved furry companion, Athena.

Leigh Chapman, Senior Planner, Salter's Creek Consulting

Ms. Chapman has thirty-two years of experience in supporting hazard and risk management at the Federal, state, and local government levels through problem identification, alternatives formulation, and plan implementation. She has collaborated with local jurisdictions, state agencies, and FEMA, preparing guidance documents, administering building codes and land use ordinances, evaluating program effectiveness, and implementing mitigation projects to reduce the impacts of various hazards.

John Cooke, Eastern Region Health Emergency Coordinator, Office of Emergency Preparedness, Virginia Department of Health

John Cooke serves as the Eastern Region Health Emergency Coordinator for the Office of Emergency Preparedness at the Virginia Department of Health. In this capacity, he oversees the coordination of local health department responses to emergencies affecting public health. He acts as a liaison between Local Health Emergency Coordinators and Emergency Support Function 8 (Health and Medical) at the Virginia Emergency Operations Center (VEOC). He holds a Bachelor of Science degree from Lees-McRae College and a Graduate Certificate in Non-Profit Management from Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU). He is a Certified Hospital Emergency Coordinator (CHEC) and an instructor in multiple emergency preparedness disciplines. John is a graduate of the Emergency Management Institute’s Basic Academy and has completed the Advanced Professional Series. He is also a member of the Commonwealth of Virginia’s Incident Management Team (IMT). Beginning his career in Fire and EMS in 1985, John worked as a Medic/Firefighter at Newport News Shipbuilding, where he gained experience in radiological controls. He has been a Nationally Registered Paramedic for over 25 years and currently serves as the Volunteer Chief of Phoebus Company in Hampton, Virginia.