Master of Disaster

SCS professor develops global disaster database

October 19, 2009

Walter G. Green III tracks down serial killers. They don’t have infamous names like Jack the Ripper or Son of Sam, but they are far more deadly.

Green, associate professor of emergency management, is developing a global database of disasters — everything from hurricanes in Florida to the tsunami in the Indian Ocean.

“Tsunamis are serial killers with a long record of events extending perhaps as far back as the exodus of the Jews [from] Egypt,” Green says. “The Indian Ocean tsunami following the northern Sumatra earthquake is a particularly good example of how countries with limited or no warning systems are very vulnerable, even today, to natural catastrophes.”

Green’s database employs a broad definition of “disasters.” It does not include wars, but it does include terrorist attacks.

“Can I chronicle every bomb that blows up in Iraq?” Green ponders. “No. But I do want a representative sample for disaster managers to learn from. … There really are recipes for disaster, warning signs that people miss.”

Educating disaster managers is what Green and his database are all about. His passion for this emerging academic discipline helped the School of Continuing Studies establish an undergraduate program in emergency services management in 1996, a graduate certificate in 2001 and a master’s program in the fall of 2004. The school offers all of the courses exclusively online.

Since disasters bring out the best and worst in people, the curriculum “covers the entire breadth of human experience,” Green says. “We look at how disasters impact people. We look at the history, the physical characteristics, the social dimensions, the economics, the politics, the legal issues and the role of religion.”

This theoretical approach spurs practical applications for students who already are working in the field, Green explains. “Instead of teaching them — for the 45th time — the principles of emergency management or similar applied material, we teach them how to think about bad events. We teach our students how to ask: ‘What’s happening here? How is it happening? And can we predict it next time?’”

Green started the disaster database because he “got tired of not being able to remember when something happened,” but his students report that his encyclopedic knowledge of disasters is surpassed only by his impressive teaching abilities.

“Dr. Green is the major reason why I enrolled and why I stay in the program,” says Ellen Black, a public safety services coordinator for Cobb County, Ga. “His credentials, knowledge base and concern for the program and students are incredible. I have learned so much in the four courses I have completed so far, and I truly believe it is helping me become a well-rounded employee.”

This is an excerpt from the Richmond Alumni Magazine. Read the full article online.

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