Profile/Interview

For this blog, I am choosing to profile/interview Rick Dale, the Director for the Center of Emergency Management and Homeland Security (CEMHS), where I am completing my internship. Rick’s main role with CEMHS is all things research related. His background comes from public safety in the private sector, while working alongside various public and nonprofit agencies throughout the country. Rick got into public safety after working as a police officer for his hometown police department. He eventually began his own company, iXP Corp, which focused on public safety communication systems. After leaving the company in summer 2013, he came to ASU to help lead the CEMHS.

            Educationally, the Emergency Management/Homeland Security degrees are fairly new and uncommon. If the field is specifically EM/HS related, a Bachelor’s Degree, with appropriate work/internship experience, could be all that is needed. However, a Master’s Degree in EM/HS never looks bad either. The EM/HS career field is full of individuals who learned the job as it became a job following events like 9/11, Hurricane Katrina, etc. As a result, the formal education component is quite new.

            One thing that he would stress to someone interested in EM/HS is the idea of creativity in solutions. In addition, it is also important to not only find the solutions, but deliver them as well. A lot of the work done within this field is very proactive and requires forward-thinking. You have to think ahead and prepare for any “what-if” scenarios that you can. With the advancements of new technology, you can utilize these new advancements in EM/HS relief efforts to provide more creative, and efficient, solution delivery.

            This field interests me because it serves the public and allows for creativity and utilization of various things. It’s an opportunity to coordinate efforts between various public/private/nonprofit sectors from all over the region, state, and even the nation. At the end of the day, it will create a better environment and a better solution for our communities which will lead to improved cooperation and a stronger society.