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I hope to be involved in projects that aim to gather scientific evidence to inform environmental decision making and advocate for greater equity and justice in environmental governance. Through this work, I hope to learn the skills needed to engage in community based research and leverage community knowledge as expert knowledge. In my department, things are often siloed and issues are only seen through one perspective. I really want to gain more experience in collaborating with a wide array of stakeholders to come up with approaches to mitigate the environmental injustices experienced in under-resourced communities.

 “From the first moments to the last, however, their efforts were plagued by failures of communication, command and control.” This main point is supported in several ways. The police helicopters said that the collapse of the towers was “imminent” a full 20 minutes before the south tower fell and an hour and 29 minutes before the north tower. Most firefighters in the north tower did not even know that the south tower had fallen. Most fighter fighters did not recall ever hearing the dispatch to evacuate the north tower despite multiple broadcasts. The chain of command and orderly response also failed. First responders ignored and disobeyed orders to wait to respond until called upon. Some self-dispatched taking taxis, driving themselves, and hoping on other departments’ rigs. “Discipline Broke Down In Eagerness to Help”. The police commissioner, Bernard B. Kerik, did not even know that there were any serious communication issues between the agencies. Assistant Chief Joseph Callan ordered an evacuation of the north tower at 9:32 am, almost a full hour before it fell, but few ever received this command. These failures resulted in the needless loss of life and a response that could have been far better.

Hailey-Means was incarcerated at Rikers and provides an inside view of the deteriorating conditions of the facility.

Freddie McGrier talked about the extreme heat the cells faced in the warm season and the dangers to his life that he faced because of his heart condition. Johnny Perez echoed Freddie’s input. Susi Vassallo, who is professor at NY University Medical School, deemed the heat conditions a serious threat to the health of the inmates.

Omar Smith, also incarcerated at Rikers, has developed asthma during his sentence which is likely due to the poisonous gases released by the decomposing landfill under the prison.

Michael Bloomberg was Mayor of NYC during the Sandy super-storm and while he announced a plan for the evacuation of the surrounding islands there was not one for Rikers.

The New York Times is also referenced in the article for their reports on the prison’s poor welfare.  

There are four different levels to the Disaster Resilience Leadership certification. Level 1 is Strengthening Existing Leadership Capacity. Level 2 is Building Organizational Efficacy. Level 3 is Creating Future DRL Leaders. Level 4 is Global DRL Network.  It is a 6 day workshop.

Cloud9Pysch is a private company formed by IBM, Capital Factory, Telemental Health Institute, and Health Wildcatters.

Psychological first aid (PFA) administration is the main focus of the emergency response solution.

PFA has eight main action items to administration:

Contact and engagement, safety and comfort, stabilization, information gathering: current needs and concerns, practical assistance, connection with social supports, information on coping, and linkage with collaborative services. (nctsn.org)

This report contains five main topics: the radioactive contamination of the environment, environmental countermeasures and remediation, human exposure levels, radiation induced effects on plants and animals, environmental and radioactive waste management aspects of the dismantling of the Chernobyl shelter.