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By Barbara L. Micale

NATIONAL CAPITAL REGION, September 16, 2008 -- Theresa Jefferson and John Harrald, research faculty at the Virginia Tech Center for Technology, Security, and Policy, have been awarded a grant in the amount of $443,499 from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to support the Mid America Earthquake Center at the University of Illinois – Champaign.

The funding will enable them to research emergency management issues associated with the New Madrid Seismic Zone in the central United States.

Jefferson and Harrald, who recently joined the Center for Technology, Security, and Policy in the National Capital Region, will focus on social vulnerability (displaced persons, shelter needs, commodity requirements, and special needs) in response to an earthquake involving the New Madrid fault. The work will be part of Phase III of the Mid America Earthquake Center research agenda sponsored by FEMA. The two researchers have extensive academic and practical experience in crisis, disaster, and emergency management, and will travel extensively through the New Madrid Seismic Zone in connection with their research.

Contact Barbara L. Micale at blmicale@vt.edu or (703) 518-2714.

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