University of Pittsburgh Ridgway Center for International Security Studies


Dr. Phil Williams, Professor and Director of the Matthew B. Ridgway Center for International Security Studies






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General Matthew B. Ridgway Biography
The International Katrina Project: Developing EU/US Policy for Disaster Risk Reduction

Guest Speaker Eelco H. Dykstra Date: 3/26/2009
Location: Wesley W. Posvar Hall, Room 3431
Time: 3:00 – 4:30 p.m.

This lecture is open to all students, staff and the general public

The University of Pittsburgh’s Center for Disaster Management and Matthew B. Ridgway Center for International Security Studies will present a lecture by Eelco H. Dykstra, MD, visiting professor at George Washington University, Institute for Crisis, Disaster and Risk Management (ICDRM), as part of their continuing speaker series. The free public lecture titled, “The International Katrina Project: Developing EU/US Policy for Disaster Risk Reduction,” will be presented at 3 p.m. March 26, in Room 3431, Wesley W. Posvar Hall, at the University of Pittsburgh.

Dykstra has over twenty years of international emergency management experience in various healthcare and non-healthcare settings. He has spent his professional career designing, monitoring and evaluating emergency systems and programs. He is the current Chair of the International Katrina Project (IKP), an international research project that uses the lessons of Hurricane Katrina to develop a scenario called “The Storm.” This novel scenario explores what would, or could, happen if a super-storm were to strike 11 European countries. With over 100 partners, IKP seeks to 1) extract lessons for best practice management and risk reduction that are based on consensus-based conclusions and recommendations; and 2) promote coherent EU-US and international policy and operational approaches towards risk reduction, response, recovery, reconstruction and stabilization in regions at risk for natural disasters in the context of global climate change. Additional IKP information is available at (www.stormovereurope.org).

While at George Washington University, Dykstra has been responsible for the development of the international program in Emergency Management. His work at ICDRM has focused on the international dimensions of Homeland Security. Dykstra also has served as an International Advisor in countries around the world, including Japan, Germany, the Netherlands and the United States. Dykstra received his medical degree from Groningen University, the Netherlands.

For more information, contact Tom Haase at 412-648-2291 or thhst6@pitt.edu.

The Center for Disaster Management and the Mathew B. Ridgway Center are part of the Graduate School of Public and International Affairs, University of Pittsburgh.