Gavin Smith Dr. Smith is the Executive Director of the Center for the Study of Natural Hazards, which is located at the University of North Carolina (UNC) at Chapel Hill. The center focuses on conducting research associated with natural hazards and disasters and translating the findings to practice. Dr. Smith oversees the administration of the CSNHD, including the identification of research opportunities, building partnerships among hazard scholars and practitioners, and managing additional research initiatives and sub-centers as they emerge. Dr. Smith is also Associate Research Professor in the Department of City and Regional Planning at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and he teaches courses in disaster recovery, hazard mitigation, and special topics. Additionally, Dr. Smith serves as the Executive Director of the Department of Homeland Security’s Center of Excellence for the Study of Natural Disasters, Coastal Infrastructure and Emergency Management. The Center of Excellence research focus areas include hazard modeling, engineering and infrastructure protection, human behavior, and land use planning. Dr. Smith is currently engaged in planning-related research within the center, focused on a national evaluation of local and state hazard mitigation plans. Prior to accepting the position of Executive Director at UNC, Dr. Smith served as a principal in the firm PBS&J. As 1 of 10 individuals designated as a principal professional within a 4,000-person firm, his specific duties included the provision of high-level policy counsel to governors, federal agencies, corporations, universities, and nations regarding disaster recovery and hazard mitigation practice. Following Hurricane Katrina, Dr. Smith worked in the Mississippi Office of the Governor, serving as the Director of the Office of Recovery and Renewal. In this role, he and his staff focused on 4 primary tasks: the identification of federal, corporate, nonprofit, and foundation financial assistance; the provision of education, outreach, and training to local governments and state agencies; providing counsel to the governor, his staff, and state agency officials regarding disaster recovery policy issues, and the implementation of the Governor’s Commission Report: After Katrina: Building Back Better than Ever. In this role Dr. Smith testified before Congress twice, providing policy recommendations to improve the delivery of post-disaster recovery and reconstruction activities. He also developed the concept for and wrote policy guidance associated with the $400 million Alternative Housing Pilot Program, an initiative intended to test the construction and deployment of improved emergency housing alternatives following Hurricane Katrina. Dr. Smith is currently writing the text A Review of the United States Disaster Assistance Framework: Planning for Recovery (Public Entity Risk Institute) and recently completed book chapters addressing the linkages among hazards analysis, planning, and sustainable development. Previous • Next Speaker Bio
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