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Mark Abkowitz - Vanderbilt University. Nashville, TN, US

Mark Abkowitz

Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering | Vanderbilt University

Nashville, TN, UNITED STATES

Expert in enterprise risk management, hazardous materials transportation, and impacts of extreme weather on infrastructure adaptation.

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How do you manage a natural disaster during a pandemic? Dr. Mark Abkowitz: Transportation Risk Assessment, Safety and Security

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Biography

Mark Abkowitz specializes in enterprise risk management, hazardous materials transportation safety and security, assessing the impacts of extreme weather on infrastructure adaptation, and spatial analysis of freight transportation systems. He has authored more than one hundred publications on these topics, and has appeared on National Public Radio, Fox National News and CNBC to discuss issues of national importance. He has served as a researcher and consultant to a wide variety of businesses and government agencies.

Areas of Expertise (10)

Extreme Weather and Infrastructure

Enterprise Risk Management

Spatial Analysis

Infrastructure Resilience

Risk Assessment

Risk Management

Risk Assessment and Management

Freight Transportation

Disaster Preparedness

Hazardous materials transportation

Accomplishments (3)

Appointed Member, Nuclear Waste Technical Review Board

Appointed to this position by President George W. Bush in June 2002

Distinguished Service Award, National Academy of Sciences

Recipient of the 1996 Distinguished Service Award from the National Academy of Sciences for his leadership role with the Transportation Research Board

Charles H. Hochman Lifetime Achievement Award

Received for contributions to hazardous materials transportation research

Education (1)

Massachusetts Institute of Technology: B.S., M.S., Ph.D., Civil Engineering

Selected Media Appearances (2)

Climate adaptation is a necessity and no longer an option

The Hill  online

2020-10-13

Wildfires, inland and coastal flooding, heat waves, droughts and other climate disasters have become seemingly daily occurrences, with no location on the planet immune to such threats. Many of these events have catastrophic consequences in terms of human casualties, property damage and environmental destruction. Beyond that, there are also indirect effects that can cripple an entire region, such as supply chain disruption, economic decline and loss of social connection.

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It’s Hurricane Preparedness Week, and communities aren’t ready for both coronavirus and a disaster

The Conversation  online

2020-05-05

Hurricane season is only weeks away, and many communities are only now considering how to handle a large-scale disaster on top of the coronavirus pandemic.

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