Weapons of Mass Destruction and Public Health

Nuclear and Radiological Weapons
Milton Leitenberg - senior research scholar, Center for International and Security Studies at Maryland, University of Maryland School of Public Policy
Expertise: nuclear, radiological and biological weapons; recent wars and conflicts; arms control

Credentials: internationally recognized authority on chemical, biological and nuclear warfare; has written or edited a dozen full-length studies on recent wars and conflicts and biological and nuclear weapons
Contact: 301-405-7605 (office); 301-340-3049 (home); mleitenb@umd.edu
Web site: www.puaf.umd.edu/faculty/people/leitenbergm.html

Vulnerability of Nuclear Power Plants
Marino di Marzo - professor and chair, fire protection engineering, University of Maryland
Expertise: vulnerability of nuclear power plants, fire and heat transfer, fire and nuclear safety and related fire safety engineering analyses

Credentials: evaluated severe accident scenarios with potential for radioactive release for the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission; collaborated extensively with the Building and Fire Research Laboratory and the U.S. National Institutes of Standards and Technology
Contact: 301-405-5257; marino@eng.umd.edu ; or Lee Tune 301-405-4679, 301-257-0073 (after-hours)
Web site: http://www.cee.umd.edu/fireprotect/fac/fac_Marzo.html

Biological, Chemical Weapons
Elisa D. Harris - research fellow, Center for International Security Studies at Maryland, University of Maryland School of Public Policy
Expertise: military uses and control of chemical and biological weapons; managing bioterror risk to keep advanced technology out of terrorits' hands

Credentials: director of non-proliferation and export controls, National Security Council, 1993-2001; researcher, Brookings Institution's Foreign Policy Studies; has written numerous articles on chemical & biological warfare; co-author, "Controlling Dangerous Pathogens" http://www.cissm.umd.edu/documents/pathogensmonograph.pdf
Contact: 301-405-8676 (office); harrise@umd.edu; or Neil Tickner, 301-405-4622; 301-257-0073 (after-hours)
Web site: www.puaf.umd.edu/faculty/people/EHarris.html

Arms Control, Reducing Bioterror Risk
John Steinbruner - professor and director of the Center for International and Security Studies at Maryland, University of Maryland's School of Public Policy
Expertise: arms control and nuclear weapons; managing bioterror risk to keep advanced technology out of terrorists' hands; international security

Credentials: member, National Academies' Committee on International Security and Arms Control; former director of foreign policy studies at the Brookings Institution; author, Principles of Global Security
Contact: 301-405-4578 (office); 202-244-9142 (home); jsteinbr@umd.edu
Web site: www.puaf.umd.edu/faculty/people/steinbrunerm.html

Detecting Bioterror
Cristopher Davis - professor of electrical and computer engineering, director of the Maryland Optics Group, University of Maryland
Expertise: biosensors, chemical sensors, and optical wireless communications

Credentials: developing fiber optic biosensors for detection of germ warfare agents and identification of genes (funded by the Army Research Laboratory and DOE); optical techniques for detecting hazardous materials, and a covert communications technology for linking individuals, sensors and computer networks.
Contact: 301-405-3637 (office); or Lee Tune, 301-405-4679, 301-257-0073 (after-hours)
Website: http://www.ece.umd.edu/~davis/

Microbiology of Terror
Sam W. Joseph - professor of cell biology and molecular genetics, University of Maryland
Expertise - bioterror; lab security; medical microbiology; E. coli, salmonella

Credentials: veteran officer in U.S. Naval Medical and Research Command; epidemiological work in Indonesia
Contact: 301-405-5452 (office); 301-405-5451 (lab); 301- 977-0216 (home) sj13@umail.umd.edu
Web site: www.life.umd.edu/CBMG/faculty/joseph.htm

Terror Warnings
Linda Aldoory - director, Center for Risk Communication Research; assistant professor of communication, University of Maryland
Expertise: public reactions to terror warnings; effective public communication of potential health and security risks; how public perceptions vary by race, gender and class

Credentials: recent research projects include a funded study on public perceptions of bioterrorism in news coverage and a grant to study audience reactions to conflicting media information about the safety of eating fish (work in this area won top research paper awards); created Center on Risk Communication Research as a unique vehicle to focus on the communication aspects of risk analysis; editor-elect, Journal of Public Relations Research; publications include "Making Health Communications Meaningful for Women: Factors that Influence Involvement and the Situational Theory of Publics" and a book, "Gender Challenge to Media: Diverse Voices from the Field"
Contacts: 301-405-6528 (office); 301-509-2617 (cell); riskcenter@umd.edu
Web Site: http://www.comm.riskcenter.umd.edu/about%20us.html ; http://www.comm.umd.edu/people/faculty/laldoory.html

Emergency Response and Training
Steven T. Edwards - director, Maryland Fire and Rescue Institute, University of Maryland
Expertise: incident management systems; fire service strategy and tactics; training and educational systems for terrorism response (the Fire and Rescue Institute trains Maryland first responders to assess and handle hazardous materials incidents)
Credentials: chair, Board of Directors of the Safety Equipment Institute; vice chair of the Congressional Fire Service Institute National Advisory Committee; in 1997, elected president, North American Fire Training Association
Contact : 301-226-9960 (office); 301-343-4771 (cell); director@mfri.org
Web site: http://www.mfri.org/

Emergency Response and Training
Russell Strickland - assistant director, Maryland Fire and Rescue Institute, University of Maryland, in charge of field programs division; currently on loan to the Maryland Emergency Management Agency
Expertise: trains Maryland first-responders, including training for assessing and handling hazardous materials incidents; involved in Maryland emergency management planning

Credentials: chair, Maryland Terrorism Forum's Training Workgroup; involved with the Maryland Fire Service Personnel Qualifications Board, the Chesapeake Society of Fire and Rescue Instructors and the Maryland Council of Fire and Rescue Academies; active in Maryland fire, rescue and Emergency Medical Services for more than 30 years
Contact: 301 - 517-3687 (office); 410-8368379 (home); 240-885-5834 (cell); rstrickland@mema.state.md.us
Web Site: http://www.mfri.org/

First Responder Communication Networking
Ashok K. Agrawala - professor of computer science, director of the Maryland Information and Network Dynamics (MIND) Lab, University of Maryland
Expertise:  wireless communications technologies for first responders; wireless network security

Credentials: co-developed numerous wireless security and communications technologies, including DRACO, a wireless technology system designed to provide in-the-field first responders with enhanced communication and connectivity (networking command posts and individuals in the field to provide each with detailed information on location and localized conditions); co-winner of university's 2004 information technology invention of the year award for creation of software that can turn any Wi-Fi network into a detection and tracking security system; working with a Bethesda, Md.-based company to develop and test unique "edge of network" solution to the serious security and user authentication issues faced by users of Wi-Fi networks ;  developed unique location determination technologies for GPS-Free environments  
Contact: 301-405-2525 (office); agrawala@cs.umd.edu ; or Lee Tune, 301-405-4679, 301-257-0073 (after-hours)
Web site: http://www.cs.umd.edu/~agrawala/      

Drinking Water and Bioterror
Gary Felton - assistant professor, bioengineering, water quality , University of Maryland
Expertise: water quality and contamination

Credentials: author of numerous articles about well and water contamination
Contact: 301-405-8039 (office); 410-884-5335 (home); gfelton@umd.edu
Web site: www.agnr.umd.edu/users/bioreng/felton.htm

Air-handling Systems and Bioterror
Bruce Jarvis - professor of chemistry and biochemistry, University of Maryland
Expertise: "sick buildings" - human exposure to toxins lurking in air-handling systems

Credentials: worked with biological chemical compounds used in Vietnam and with "yellow rain," fungal toxin developed in the 1980's; frequently interviewed about "sick buildings"
Contact: 301-405-1843 (work); 301-779-6867 (home); bj6@umail.umd.edu
Web site: www.chem.umd.edu/faculty/organic/jarvis/jarvis.htm

Pesticide Security
Amy Brown - associate professor of entomology and coordinator, extension pesticide education and assessment , University of Maryland
Expertise: large-scale application of agricultural pesticides; pesticide educator

Credentials: president, American Association of Pesticide Safety Educators; wrote safety guide, "Pesticide Storage Security"
Contact: 301-405-3928 (office); ab35@umail.umd.edu ; or Ellen Ternes, 301-405-4627
Web site: www.entm.umd.edu/cgi-bin/DisplayHtml.cgi?/home/website/responses/dept/cv/abrown_cv.html

Animals as Terror Targets
Ted Mashima, DVM - associate director, Center for Government and Corporate Veterinary Medicine, Virginia-Maryland Regional College of Veterinary Medicine, University of Maryland
Expertise : disaster planning for animals in captivity; risks to humans in pet rescues; education and training for ecosystem health and conservation

Credentials : research associate, Department of Animal Health, National Zoological Park
Contact: 301-314-6815 (work); tmashima@umd.edu ; or Ellen Ternes, 301-405-4627
Web site: http://www.vetmed.vt.edu/Organization/Maryland/cgcvmfaculty.asp

Gas Masks in the Workplace
Arthur T. Johnson - professor of biological resources engineering, University of Maryland
Expertise : effects of respirators on work output

Credentials : has studied the effects of gas masks on productivity since 1969; director of the Human Performance Laboratory at the University of Maryland; author of "Biomechanics and Exercise Physiology" (1991)
Contact: 410-457-5683 (home office); 301-405-1184 (work - Thursdays only); aj16@umail.umd.edu
Web site: www.agnr.umd.edu/users/bioreng/johnson.htm