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| Dr. Michelle Black, Department of Political Science, NDL, and NCITE, University of Nebraska Omaha |
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| Dr. Black is an Associate Professor in the Department of Political Science for the University of Nebraska Omaha, Co-Director for the Nebraska Deterrence Lab, Security Innovations Academic Programming Director for NCITE, a Research Partner for the National Strategic Research Institute (NSRI) at the University of Nebraska, and Co-Editor for Space and Defense Journal. In addition to her academic career, Dr. Black has over seventeen years of professional experience with the Department of Defense. UNO Profile |
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Becky Kern, Warning Coordinator Meteorologist, NOAA/NWS – Valley, NE
| Becky Kern serves as the Warning Coordination Meteorologist (WCM) at the National Weather Service office in Valley, NE. For the past 25 years, she has been committed to delivering accurate forecasts and vital warnings to the residents of eastern Nebraska and southwest Iowa, advancing from an intern to lead forecaster, and ultimately earning her most recent promotion to Warning Coordination Meteorologist (WCM). Becky enjoys the complexities of weather forecasting and thrives on helping key decision-makers plan for impactful events. She focuses on fostering strong relationships with partners and addressing their weather needs to support the goal of creating a Weather-Ready Nation. Some of the most significant events she has forecast include the Little Sioux Boy Scout Camp tornado, the Christmas Blizzard of 2009, the Floods of 2019, and, most recently, the April 26th, 2024 tornado outbreak. |
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| Jay Martin, School Safety & Security Director, Nebraska Department of Education |
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Nebraska Department of Education, School Safety & Security Director, Jay Martin has spent over 25 years educating on the foundational issues in school safety and security. He has presented nationally on digital issues, teen substance use, human trafficking, written in books & journals, taught in schools, and had firsthand experience in school shootings prior to his retirement from law enforcement. His trainings focus on creating safe educational environments, so learning is productive.
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| Bill O’Neill, Executive Director Strategic Communications, UNMC |
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As executive director, Bill O’Neill, MA, provides strategic and creative direction for the promotion and protection of UNMC's image and brand, working closely with colleagues at Nebraska Medicine and other University of Nebraska campuses. The Nebraska native has been with UNMC for two decades and holds a master's in communications from the University of Nebraska Omaha. UNMC Strategic Communications Team
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| Erin Owen, President, Clarity Communication |
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Erin Fogarty Owen is an award-winning integrated marketing communications expert. She has offered clients a range of strategic communications services leveraging her unique professional experiences in higher education, national news, and government. At the University of Nebraska at Omaha, Owen envisioned and built a full-service strategic communications unit to consistently tell the powerful story of the university. Clarity Communication
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| Chief Todd Schmaderer, Chief of Police, Omaha Police Department |
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Chief Todd Schmaderer was appointed as the 32nd Chief of the Omaha Police Department (OPD) in August of 2012. He is currently the longest serving chief in the Major Cities Chiefs Association (MCCA). He oversees a department of 1200 employees with 906 sworn officers. Chief Schmaderer has received the 2017 University of Nebraska at Omaha top Alumni Award and the NAACP President’s Award. Chief Schmaderer Bio
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| Dr. Deanna Sellnow, Chair, Department of Communication, Clemson University |
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Dr. Deanna Sellnow serves as the chair of the Department of Communication. Her primary area of research focuses on strategic instructional risk and crisis communication in a variety of contexts such as natural disasters, health epidemics and pandemics, biosecurity, terrorism and agricultural biotechnology. Clemson Profile
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| Dr. Tim Sellnow, Professor, Department of Communication, Clemson University |
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Dr. Tim Sellnow is a professor of communication at Clemson University. His research focuses on risk and crisis communication. He has co-authored seven books on risk and crisis communication and has published many refereed journal articles. His most recent book, co-authored with Dr. Deanna Sellnow, is Before Crisis: Strategies for Effective Risk Communication. Clemson Profile
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| Dr. Shari Veil, Dean, College of Journalism and Mass Communication, University of Nebraska Lincoln |
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Shari R. Veil, MBA, Ph.D., is a professor and the Jane T. Olson Endowed Dean of the College of Journalism and Mass Communications at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. Veil also serves as a research fellow with the National Strategic Research Institute, a Department of Defense-designated University Affiliated Research Center focused on developing solutions for complex problems across the spectrum of chemical, biological, radiological, nuclear, and explosive threats. UNL Profile
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| Dr. Tami Williams, Chair, Educational Leadership, University of Nebraska Omaha |
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Tami Williams, EdD, is associate professor at the University of Nebraska at Omaha in the educational leadership department. Williams has been an educator for over 20 years with background as a teacher, behavior interventionist, assistant principal, and district administrator in Nebraska where she supervised buildings and led assessment/data innovations. At UNO she has chaired over 20 dissertations and served on nearly 50 committees. She is committed to serving educational leaders in our state and beyond. Profile
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| Dr. Norman Wong, Associate Professor, Department of Communication, University of Oklahoma |
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Dr. Wong is an Associate Professor of Health Communication. His research is focused on looking at how people process and respond to different theoretically-derived message strategies for communicating health-related information within a variety of mass-mediated contexts (e.g., television, Internet, social media), and across a wide range of health topics such as HPV vaccinations, tobacco cessation, binge drinking, cancer prevention, and relationship violence. OU Profile
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