Our nation is experiencing an urgent need to better understand and improve aging and unreliable lifeline systems. These systems include water, wastewater, electricity, natural gas, liquid fuels, communications, and multi-modal transportation—highways and roads, rail, airports, and ports and harbors.
Particularly as natural disasters grow more frequent and destructive, lifeline services are critical to protect our communities and essential for disaster recovery.
The NIBS Lifeline Infrastructure Hub aims to help the nation with community resilience and recovery after disasters. Robust partnerships with government, the private sector, and various stakeholders to advance this effort are crucial for our safety and security.
in a coordinating role to forge and engage public-private partnerships across lifeline sectors for natural hazards, including hurricanes, earthquakes, tsunamis, floods, wildfires and future extreme weather events
the fundamentals of lifeline infrastructure systems, plus identify gaps and cost-effective ways to mend gaps in lifeline resilience
investments and improvements, in the technical and policy realms, that are most needed for lifeline infrastructure in all communities to improve disaster resilience and modernization
The Lifeline Advisory Panel (LAP) is the leadership group providing the strategic direction to the National Institute of Building Sciences (NIBS) Lifeline Infrastructure Hub. Comprised with representatives from four key stakeholder groups including Industry Professionals, Technical Experts, Public Policy Professionals, and Public Stakeholders. The Lifeline Advisory Panel plays a crucial role in informing the direction of NIBS Lifeline Hub by providing an advisory role for advancing its objectives involving policy development, expanding advocacy, and highlighting the importance of lifeline infrastructure in disaster resilience, and identifying partnerships and funding opportunities.
| Name | Organization | Role | Region |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ron Eguchi | ImageCat, Inc. | Chair | SoCal |
| Sissy Nikolaou | National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) | Vice Chair | East Coast |
| Kent Yu | SEFT Consulting Group/NIBS BSSC Board | Executive Committee | PNW |
| Iris Tien | Georgia Institute of Technology/NIBS BSSC Board | Executive Committee | Gulf Coast |
| Dan Kaniewski | Marsh McLennan/NIBS MMC Board | Executive Committee | DC |
| Natalie Enclade | BuildStrong America/MMC Board | Executive Committee | National |
| Yumei Wang | National Institute of Building Sciences (advisor) | Executive Committee | PNW |
| Eric Rawdon | National Institute of Building Sciences | Executive Committee | National |
| Bilal Ayyub | University of Maryland | Panel Member | East Coast |
| Jeff Bachhuber | Pacific Gas & Electric | Panel Member | NoCal |
| Brian Blake | Central United States Earthquake Consortium (CUSEC) | Panel Member | Central |
| Janey Camp | University of Memphis | Panel Member | Central East |
| Chuck Chaitovitz | Chamber of Commerce | Panel Member | DC |
| Craig Davis | Los Angeles Department of Water and Power (retired) | Panel Member | SoCal |
| Martin Hight | American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) | Panel Member | National |
| Joone Kim-Lopez | Moulton Niguel Water District | Panel Member | SoCal |
| Alexis Kwasinski | University of Pittsburg | Panel Member | East Coast |
| Mike Rookstool | Chevron Technical Center | Panel Member | Gulf Coast |
| Jason Stott | Georgia Power | Panel Member | Gulf Coast |
| Ed Laatsch | Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) | Ex Officio (non-voting) | National |
| Jay Harris | National Earthquake Hazards Reduction Program (NEHRP) | Ex Officio (voting) | National |
| Hamid Ghasemi | U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT) | Ex Officio | National |
| Mihir Parikh | Department of Energy (DOE) | Ex Officio | National |
| David Goldbloom-Helzner | Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) | Ex Officio | National |
| Leon Kempner | Bonneville Power Administration | ||
| Sara Barrett | NIBS | Staff | National |
Vice President, Infrastructure, NIBS
erawdon@nibs.org
Lifeline Infrastructure Special Advisor, NIBS
ywang.ctr@nibs.org
From the flow of electricity to the pulse of communication, from the arteries of transportation to the veins of water supply, these essential systems quietly weave together the fabric of our society. Often taken for granted in their seamless operation, it’s only during moments of disruption that we truly recognize their paramount importance.
Nearly half of all Americans live and work in high seismic regions throughout the United States. These regions currently have $108 trillion of national building assets and the work of NEHRP must continue to mitigate risk from earthquakes.