Public Safety calls for papers / meetings & conferences

Call for Papers: Historical and Contemporary Studies of Disasters

Placing Chernobyl, 9/11, Katrina, Deepwater Horizon, Fukushima and Other Events in Historical and Comparative Perspective

Co-Sponsored by the SHOT Prometheans (Engineering) SIG / SHOT Asia Network / Teach 3.11

and held during the Society for the History of Technology (SHOT) Annual Meeting Sunday, 7 October 2012 Copenhagen, Denmark

For this year’s Prometheans / SHOT Asia Network SIG workshop (with co-sponsorship from Teach 3.11, a project of the Forum for the History of Science in Asia), we would like to focus on historical and contemporary studies of both natural and anthropogenic disasters. Inspired by discussions about Fukushima and the greater East Japan Earthquake (Tohoku-chiho Taiheiyo Oki Shishin) and tsunami during the SHOT/4S/HSS co-located meeting in Cleveland last year, an interdisciplinary and international group of scholars from these three societies decided to create an open forum for academic discussions about disasters and the opportunity to place them in historical and comparative perspective. This year’s SIG session will be one gathering of this forum, with a focus on analyzing the sociotechnical dimensions of disasters from historical and other disciplinary perspectives.

This workshop will take place during the Sunday morning* special-interest-group (SIG) time slot at the SHOT annual meeting in Copenhagen. (*This event may be 1/2 day or full day depending on the level of interest.) Offered in an interactive workshop format, the event will be directed primarily towards historical and contemporary studies of disasters of different scales. A portion of the program may also be dedicated to interpreting the events surrounding the Fukushima nuclear disaster and the East Japan Earthquake through comparison with other disasters. While we anticipate that historians may comprise a significant portion of the membership because the event will take place at SHOT, scholars of all academic disciplines are invited to contribute and to attend.

Among the kinds of papers that we are interested in seeing are the following:

Historical or contemporary studies of any disaster of natural or anthropogenic origin. Especially papers that focus on the organizational, technological, and/or sociotechnical dimensions of the disaster, and how this contributed to or exacerbated a particular disaster or the responses that followed the disaster.

An examination of the cultural, political, or economic dimensions of a particular industry, such as nuclear energy, oil extraction, or civil engineering and construction, and their contributions to the disaster.

Historical and contemporary studies of environmental movements and environmental organizations and their relationship to disasters and disaster response.

Any comparative study of disasters, and specific dimensions of disasters.

The workshop format will consist of pre-circulated papers (1000-1800 words in length) and prepared responses; open discussions around predetermined themes during the workshop; and written responses and reflections submitted following the workshop. Members of the Prometheans, SHOT Asia Network, and Teach 3.11 will serve as the program committee for this event, and will work organize the papers received into coherent sessions. Works-in-progress, and submissions by graduate students as well as senior scholars, from any nation, are actively encouraged.

We ask those who are interested to signal your interest by sending us an email, with proposed title, at your earliest convenience so we are able to make an early decision about the scope of the workshop. The applications process will be open until June 1st, by which point we will need a firm commitment to attend and a 300-word abstract from all participants. Pre-circulated papers will be due on September 1st. Those presenting material during the main SHOT conference are still welcome to participate in the workshop with the same (or different) material, and are encouraged to do so (please indicate, for planning purposes, that this will be the case).

Please send emails signaling your interest with a proposed title for your paper to the SIG Workshop Program Committee chair, Atsushi Akera at akeraa@rpi.edu.

Call for Abstracts: International Society for Disease Surveillance Annual Conference

The ISDS Annual Conference is the premier event dedicated to the advancement of the science and practice of biosurveillance. This year’s theme, Expanding Collaborations to Chart a New Course in Public Health Surveillance, will highlight the importance of working together across agencies, sectors, and disciplines to improve surveillance methods and population health outcomes. The conference will be held at the Sheraton San Diego Hotel and Marina in San Diego, CA, December 4-5, 2012, with Pre-Conference Workshops on December 3rd.

The ISDS Conference draws professionals from a broad range of disciplines— epidemiology and computer science to mathematical modeling and health policy—to learn and contribute the latest achievements, methodologies, best practices, conceptual frameworks, and technical innovations in the rapidly evolving field of biosurveillance. This year's conference will provide fertile ground for cultivating new ideas and partnerships with roundtable discussions, panels and other opportunities to collaborate.

The scope of this conference includes all of the components, policies, methods, practices, infrastructure, research and evaluation related to timely surveillance of communicable diseases, chronic diseases and injuries. This includes notifiable conditions, adverse events and emerging/novel threats; biological, chemical, and radiological health threats; plant, animal, and food surveillance; and environmental monitoring.

Questions regarding the Call for Abstracts may be sent to Tera Reynolds, ISDS Program Manager.

Submission deadline: September 6, 2012 (11:59pm Eastern Daylight Time)

Authors notified of acceptance: October 3, 2012

Pre-Conference Workshops: December 3, 2012

Annual Conference: December 4-5, 2012

Submission Types

Note: All abstracts for the ISDS Conference will be submitted using ScholarOne. There is a limit of 4810 characters for the text of your submission. The character count includes spaces. The character count WILL include title, authors, institutions, tables, and images, but WILL NOT include presenting author brief biographical summaries (bios) or the abstract summary that will be used in the conference program.

Oral

All abstracts submitted for oral presentation are automatically considered for poster presentation as well. Include the following components when submitting an abstract for oral presentation:

· Title (85 characters MAX)

· Objective

· Introduction

· Methods

· Results

· Conclusions

· Acknowledgements

· References

· Names and affiliations of authors

· Brief bio of lead author/intended presenter (450 characters/75 words)

· Brief summary (600 characters/100 words) of submission to be used in conference program

Poster

Include the following components when submitting an abstract for poster presentation:

· Title (85 characters MAX)

· Objective

· Introduction

· Methods

· Results

· Conclusions

· Acknowledgements

· References

· Names and affiliations of authors

· Brief bio of lead author/intended presenter (450 characters/75 words)

· Brief summary (600 characters/100 words) of submission (for potential inclusion in conference program)

Panel *New for 2012*

Panel topics should be a specific aspect of design, theory, application, or experience pertaining to the science or practice of biosurveillance. Suggested panels should be comprised of no more than four participants and a moderator. A typical panel session will consist of four 15 minute presentations, each followed by 5 minutes of questions, with 10 minutes for closing discussion (presentation lengths will be subject to change based on final agenda). When submitting an abstract for a panel, include the following components:

· Title (85 characters MAX)

· Objective

· Introduction

· Panel description

· How the moderator intends to engage the audience in discussions on the panel topic

· Names of panel presenters, moderator and affiliations

· Brief bios for each panel presenter and moderator (450 characters/75 words each) for abstract reviewers to assess appropriateness to serve on the panel for the described topic

· Brief summary (600 characters/100 words) of panel to be used in conference program

Roundtable *New for 2012*

Roundtables can have up to three facilitators to briefly introduce the topic of interest and facilitate active discussion among attendees. Roundtables must be discussion-oriented rather than didactic, lecture-driven sessions. Roundtable discussions will be 60-90 minutes (depending on final agenda). When submitting an abstract for a roundtable, include the following components:

· Title (85 characters MAX)

· Objective

· Introduction

· Roundtable description

· How the facilitator intends to engage the audience in the roundtable discussion, including sample questions

· Names of facilitators and affiliations

· Brief bios for each facilitator (450 characters/75 words each) for abstract reviewers to assess appropriateness to lead a discussion on the described topic

· Brief summary (600 characters/100 words) of roundtable to be used in conference program

System Showcase Demonstrations *New for 2012*

System showcase demonstrations will be presented during the evening poster session on the first day of the conference. A typical demonstration will illustrate one or more aspects of an innovative population/public health surveillance system that is in use or under development. Demonstrations of open source and/or free products are strongly encouraged. System showcase demonstrations are not intended to be marketing or sales presentations and such submissions will be rejected; those interested in supporting the ISDS conference with an exhibit booth should contact Tera Reynolds at ISDS for more information. When submitting an abstract for a system showcase demonstration, include the following components:

· Title (85 characters MAX)

· Objective

· Introduction

· Description, highlighting benefits to public/population health surveillance and how this demonstration will be a unique addition to the ISDS conference

· Conclusions, including lessons learned and design principles from this demonstration that attendees can take away, even if not using or intending to use the system demonstrated

· Names of demonstrators and affiliations

· Brief summary (600 characters/100 words) of showcase to be used in conference program

Track Descriptions

I. Analytical Methods

a. Analytical Methods: Applied

b. Analytical Methods: Research & Development

This theme is focused on important and novel advances in the field of surveillance methodologies and analytical approaches. Abstracts in the Applied sub-track should describe methods or processes routinely used in a production-type environment. Abstracts in the Research and Development sub-track should describe methods and processes still under development or tested within a research or pilot setting. Possible topics include, but are not limited to:

· Analytic evaluation of surveillance components

· Decision support

· Estimating morbidity and impact

· Evaluation of algorithms and systems through epidemic simulation

· Geospatial analysis

· Innovative use of Geographic Information Systems (GIS) technology

· Integrating evidence from multiple sources

· Integration of mathematical modeling and statistical analyses

· New algorithms and evaluation of existing algorithms for cluster and event detection

· Pattern recognition algorithms

· Predictive disease modeling/predictive analytics

· Spatial cluster detection

· Statistical methods and tools for analyzing and interpreting data

· Time series analysis

II. Informatics

a. Informatics: Applied

b. Informatics: Research & Development

Abstracts in the Applied sub-track should describe methods or processes routinely used in a production-type environment. Abstracts in the Research and Development sub-track should describe methods and processes still under development or tested within a research or pilot setting. Possible topics include, but are not limited to:

· Advances in methods for classifying data

· Approaches to building interoperable surveillance systems and components

· Borderless data exchange models (e.g. federated information sharing approaches)

· Cloud computing for public health surveillance

· Data integration – acquiring, moving, storing, processing, coding, normalizing, and preparing data for analysis between systems

· Data quality

· Data visualization methods

· Electronic health records and public health surveillance

· Health information exchange

· How clinical information systems can support public health surveillance efforts

· How public health information systems can support clinical efforts

· Informatics lessons learned

· Information and knowledge exchange

· Innovations in public health informatics

· Mobile technologies for public health

· Natural language processing

· Standards and Interoperability Framework (Public Health Reporting Initiative)

· Standards used in public health surveillance

· System architectures for limited connectivity environments and disaster surveillance

· System architectures for surveillance in low-resource environments

· System architectures to leverage HIE for public health surveillance

· System descriptions of real-world solutions to challenging integration problems

· Workforce requirements and training

· Use of social media for biosurveillance

III. Policy (at local, state, federal, international levels)

This theme is focused on sharing successes, challenges or approaches leveraged in the use or development of policy which affects biosurveillance operations and activities. Possible topics include, but are not limited to:

· Creating successful surveillance partnerships

· Data sharing policies

· Federal policy agendas

· Funding strategies for surveillance

· How public health surveillance data have been used to inform policy

· International Health Regulations

· Legal/ethical/security/privacy issues in surveillance

· Meaningful Use responses by public health departments

· Policies around social media/leveraging social networks for risk communication, etc.

· Research collaborations to expand evidence-based health policy

· Workforce

IV. Public/Population health surveillance

a. Public/Population Health Surveillance: Practice

b. Public/Population Health Surveillance: Research

c. Public/Population Health Surveillance: Evaluation

This theme is focused on improving the daily processes of timely public/population health surveillance, including detection, signal validation, event characterization, investigation, and response. Abstracts in the Practice sub-track should describe practices routinely used in a production environment and/or deployed in field by public health departments or other agencies. Abstracts in the Research sub-track should describe research related to surveillance, health systems, etc. Abstracts in the Evaluation sub-track should describe evaluations of public/population health surveillance systems, workflows, protocols, etc. Possible topics include, but are not limited to:

· Adverse drug events and pharmacovigilance

· Case studies

· Chronic disease surveillance

· Collaboration success stories

· Contact tracing and network analysis

· Disaster/event surveillance

· Disparities surveillance

· Evaluation of surveillance systems

· Infectious disease surveillance

· Influenza-like illness surveillance

· Injury surveillance

· Innovations in biosurveillance

· Integrating surveillance across multiple data sources

· Integrating surveillance systems, e.g. syndromic and reportable diseases

· Linking response with frontline health workers

· Meaningful Use and how it’s changing/not changing surveillance practice

· Measuring vaccine efficacy, coverage, etc.

· Messaging/risk communication (what to say to the public, politicians and media about syndromic systems alerts)

· Mobile technologies for public health

· Novel approaches to communicable diseases surveillance and reporting (e.g., notifiable conditions, MRSA, nosocomial infections)

· OneHealth

· Outbreak detection, characterization and outbreak management

· School and university surveillance

· Situational awareness

· Social media and surveillance

· Surveillance across borders

· Surveillance for refugees and recent immigrants

· Surveillance in resource-limited settings

· Surveillance using ambulatory care data

· Surveillance using inpatient data

· Vaccine-preventable disease surveillance

Call for Presentations: 12th World Congress on Stress, Trauma & Coping

February 19-24, 2013 Baltimore, Maryland

Submission Deadline: June 15, 2012

The 12th World Congress on Stress, Trauma and Coping is the premier forum for multidisciplinary exchange of ideas and information among those who provide crisis and disaster mental health services.

Sessions during the 12th World Congress have been designed to provoke critical thinking challenge current convention offer innovative ideas and insights & fully explore the many applications of critical incident response in various industries, settings and situations.

World Congress participants will identify the tools needed to solve current problems and explore the future direction of the crisis intervention field. The 6 day World Congress will include a variety of presentation formats ideally suited to exploring concepts, practical applications and results in sessions designed for professionals in all practice settings and experience levels.

World Congress Major Content Themes
Over 125 presenters will cover the spectrum of crisis intervention in these and other areas:

Research / Innovations Military Disaster Response Healthcare Settings Faith Based Applications Emergency Services, Public Safety Corporate / Industry / EAP Specialty Populations Team Development and Care Schools, Children

Who Should Attend

The ICISF 12th World Congress is a “must attend” experience for anyone working in the fields of crisis intervention, traumatic stress, emergency services & disaster mental health, including:

Disaster response personnel Psychiatrists Humanitarian aid workers Counselors Law-enforcement officers Social workers Firefighters Faith-based providers EMTs / Paramedics Employee representative organizations & Unions Military personnel First response support agencies Homeland security personnel Media correspondents / journalists Emergency service administrators Grief counselors Emergency operations administrators & managers Employee assistance professionals Corrections officials Commercial & industrial organization employees Healthcare professionals & administrators Airline & other transportation industry personnel Educators, school employees Communication officers & dispatch personnel Crisis workers Security professionals Suicidologists Victim's advocates Psychologists Risk managers

Why Attend?
The Crisis Intervention field continues to grow, building on excellent proven programs and strategies while incorporating innovations that meet the needs and challenges of the diverse populations we serve. As crisis interventionists we must learn from one another to continually improve the services provided to the level of best practices.

At the 12th World Congress, you'll have an incomparable opportunity to interact with experts in the field and hundreds of your peers from around the U.S. and world who, like you, are committed to providing assistance to those affected by critical incident stress. Choose from over 70 presentations that will explore how the practice of crisis intervention is evolving and adapting to meet the needs and challenges of the future.

Please address any questions to:

Shelley Cohen
World Congress Program Manager
scohen@icisf.org
(410) 750-9600

Call for Abstracts: Dynamics of Preparedness Conference

October 22-24, 2012 Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

The University of Pittsburgh MIDAS National Center of Excellence, in cooperation with the Journal of Public Health Management & Practice and the Center for Communicable Disease Dynamics at the Harvard School of Public Health, invite researchers, graduate students, and post-doctoral fellows to the Dynamics of Preparedness Conference in Pittsburgh, October 22–24, 2012.

Purpose: The past decade has seen unprecedented investments in research on preparedness from many sectors of government and the private sector. Numerous reports have appeared, evaluating the preparedness status of states and communities. Dynamics of Preparedness will convene researchers from diverse disciplines to present, critique, and consider the future of research on emergency preparedness in public health systems.

Dynamics describes the complex interactivity among numerous governmental, private, and voluntary components of public health systems. Systems must adapt to emergencies and disasters —both as individuals, agencies, and organizations and as system components affecting the populations served—in ways that often produce unexpected, secondary impacts. Preparedness includes prevention, mitigation, response, and recovery relevant to infectious disease outbreaks as well as other emergencies and disasters.

Goals:

Compile research on public health systems that support preparedness, specifically highlighting innovative methods and novel approaches.
Critique the rigor and quality of output from this research arena, noting the findings and insights with implications for public policy and practical application.
Catalogue the issues and problems where the evidence base for preparedness policy and practice remains weak as an agenda for future research and seek solution-focused innovations.

Dynamics of Preparedness will feature sessions in:

Data: resources for, as well as barriers and constraints upon, quantitative and qualitative research

Innovations: methodological challenges and novel multi-disciplinary approaches

Outcomes: demonstrations, observational studies, and comparisons focused on the outcomes of response to public health emergencies

Modeling: use of computational, conceptual, and mathematical modeling to explore legal frameworks, resource deployment, and operational efficiency and effectiveness under resource-constrained conditions

Progress of Research: presentation of studies on the critical themes of system sustainability, communications, workforce capabilities, and criteria and metrics and on the cross-cutting issues of legal infrastructure and special-needs populations

Translation: utility and application of research results for policy making and practice

Call for Abstracts: Research perspectives at this conference will include: law and policy—including statutory authorities, organizational structures, and governance characteristics; economic resources—including finances, workforce, physical assets, equipment, and facilities; and operational effectiveness—as measured by performance processes and outcomes, quality improvement and quality assurance, and operational plans and protocols. The Conference will welcome innovative computational researchers who have entered the field of public health systems using methods from systems engineering, mathematical simulation, computational modeling, natural-language processing, Bayesian statistics, and other fields.

Deadline for submission: Friday, June 1, 2012

Selection and Notification: Selected abstract authors will be notified beginning June 30, 2012.

Call for Papers: Fourth Conference on Environment and Health

2013 American Meteorological Society Annual Meeting

January 6-10, 2013 Austin, Texas

The abstract submission deadline is: 1 August 2012

The overarching theme for the 2013 AMS Annual Meeting is “Taking Predictions to the Next Level: Expanding Beyond Today’s Weather and Climate Forecasts and Projections.” Over the past 60 years the meteorological community has made tremendous strides in making prediction a fundamental part of its scientific and operational/service heritage through the development and application of complex numerical models involving the atmosphere, ocean, land, and cryosphere components of the Earth System. Applying our predictive capabilities into a broader domain including public health, food security, air and water quality, alternative energy and responses to climate trends, is a central objective of this meeting.

In the context of this overarching theme, the goal of 4Health is to go in-depth into Earth’s influence on human health and well-being. In doing so, we seek to better understand how the atmospheric and oceanic systems exert measurable (positive or negative) impacts; moreover, we are interested in how planetary information feeds into surveillance and preparedness (including adaptation) models and decisions.

We are especially interested in public health and medical factors such as:

Asthma
Cardio and Respiratory Diseases
Foodborne Diseases and Nutrition
Vectorborne and Zoonotic Diseases
Waterborne Illnesses
Infectious Diseases
Mental Health
Food Securtiy
Heat and Extreme Weather-related Mortality and Morbity
Physical Safety

The sessions are arranged to help us explore these topics (and possibly others) in the context of hydro-meteorological and oceanographic factors so that our community understands how our science and technologies are utilized (or could be applied) for health. Thus, papers from the environment, health, and medical disciplines that explore this approach through the following subjects: integrated modeling; climate, ocean, weather and water forecasts; in-situ and satellite monitoring and observations; communication tools and technologies; and, inter-disciplinary coordination are encouraged.

Of specific interest are papers that address end-to-end science and management approaches of the aforementioned health concerns in the context of these environmental factors:

1) Ocean and coastal–related human health risks

2) Dust transport, transformation, and consequence

3) Extreme temperatures, including attendant influences on drought and wildfires

4) Examples of adaptation risks and solutions at local, regional, and international levels

5) Disaster risk reduction for healthcare delivery services (e.g., EMT) and infrastructure (e.g., hospitals), including its systems of dependency (e.g., utility grids, water, sanitation)

Achieving the 4Health goal requires participation and engagement from colleagues in the public health, medical, hydro-meteorological, and oceanic disciplines.

Papers and posters from graduate and undergraduate students are welcome.

For overall questions:

Sue Estes, NASA (email: sue.m.estes@nasa.gov; tel : 256-961-7961)

Wendy Marie Thomas (e-mail: wthomas@ametsoc.org, tel: 202-355-9820);

For Extreme Temperatures/Drought/Wildfires Topics

Glenn McGregor (e-mail: g.mcgregor@auckland.ac.nz, tel: 64 9 3737599 ext 85280)

Paul English, CA Dept of Health (email: Paul.English@cdph.ca.gov; tel: 510-620-3684)

For Health-Specific Topics

Kris Ebi, IPCC/Stanford (email: krisebi@ipcc-wg2.gov)

Paul English, CA Dept of Health (email: Paul.English@cdph.ca.gov; tel: 510-620-3684)

For Climate-Related Topics

Eileen Shea, NOAA (email: eileen.shea@noaa.gov; tel: 828-271-4384)

For Dust-Related Topics

Bill Sprigg, Univ of AZ/NASA (email: wsprigg@u.arizona.edu; tel: 520-621-6834)

For Oceans and Human Health Topics

Juli Trtanj, NOAA (email: juli.trtanj@noaa.gov)

Call for Papers: International Conference on Hazards & Disasters 2012

20-21 September 2012 Negombo, Sri Lanka

Paper abstracts, single spaced and no longer than 200 words, must be submitted electronically as Microsoft Word email attachments, before 31 May 2012.

Institute for Global Change Adaptation Science (ICAS), Ibaraki University
ICRD International Center for Research and Development (ICRD)

The ICRD/ ICAS joint Conference on Hazards & Disasters 2012 offers a valuable opportunity to network with colleagues from many countries who share the same goals. Scientists and experts in hazards and disaster risk management are invited to participate in this International Conference on Hazards & Disasters 2012

Session themes for the conference cover a rich and diverse range of research topics. We hope these sessions will bring researchers from across the globe together to discuss broad questions of common interest and provide a platform to establish relationships with new colleagues. You will be enlightened with innovative ideas and solutions at Hazards & Disasters 2012 and take initiatives to forge better solutions to reduce future risks and threats of hazards.

A natural disaster is the effect of a natural hazard (e.g., flood, tornado, hurricane, volcanic eruption, earthquake, heat wave, or landslide). It leads to financial, environmental or human losses. The resulting loss depends on the vulnerability of the affected population to resist the hazard, also called their resilience.

Risks in a changing and global world are complex and interconnected, even more so in a globalized world consisting of many societies at very different levels of development. The frequency and severity of natural disasters have increased markedly worldwide. Economic losses associated with natural hazards are increasing exponentially in developing countries.

Social science research conducted since the late 1970s has contributed greatly to the society's ability to mitigate and adapt to natural, technological, and willful (man-made) disasters. However, as evidenced by Hurricane Katrina, the Indian Ocean tsunami, the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks in the United States and other recent events, hazards and disaster research and its application could be improved greatly.

In particular, more studies should be pursued that compare how the characteristics of different types of events—including predictability, forewarning, magnitude, and duration of impact—affect societal vulnerability and response.

In that context we are seeking papers on topics of original research that address these issues and other issues at local, national and international levels.

Therefore, Hazards & Disasters 2012 offers a valuable opportunity to network with colleagues from many countries who share the same goals. You will be enlightened with innovative ideas and solutions at Hazards & Disasters 2012 and take initiatives to forge better solutions to reduce future risks and threats of hazards.

Main Sessions

The proposed major session themes of the 2012 Conference are:

1. Disaster Preparedness & Response
2. Urban Risks / Megacities
3. Climate Change & DRR
4. Risk Management
5. Social issues & impact
6. Disasters & adaptation
7. Environmental & Ecological Risks
8. Traditional knowledge & Risk reduction
9. Resilience & Vulnerability
10. Health Impacts & emergency medicine
11. Economics of Disasters
12. Communication & Outreach in DRR
13. Education, Research & Capacity Building

Sub topics

1. Tsunami (Indian ocean/Japanese)
2. Landslides
3. Floods
4. Cyclone
5. Earthquakes
6. Volcanic eruption
7. Lightning
8. Forest Fires
9. Tornados
10. Heat Waves/ Cold Waves
11. Nuclear Crisis

The target audience for the conference

• Researchers
• Scientists
• Educators
• Policy makers
• Planners
• DRR experts
• Risk experts
• Emergency managers
• PhD students

Why Attend to Hazards & Disasters 2012

The International Conference on Hazards and Disasters 2012 is providing you with the

• Opportunity to present your research to a global audience
• Establish peer to peer collaboration around the world
• Exchange ideas on important issues
• Gain a global perspective on disaster issues.

Contact Us

Send your registration form to – registration@globaldisasters.org

Send your abstract to – abstract@globaldisasters.org

Contact conference convener – prabhath@theicrd.org

Event Manager
Mr.Isanka Gamage - isanka@leapbis.info
+94 715 589 870
Skype: ip.gamage

Conference Secretariat
Hazards & Disasters 2012, #858/6, Kaduwela Road, Thalangama North, Sri Lanka.
Tel/Fax: +94 112 744306
Hotline : +94 777 799915
Email: info@theicrd.org
URL: www.theicrd.org

Call for Papers: Nanosafe 2012

After the success of Nanosafe 2008 and Nanosafe 2010, the next edition Nanosafe 2012 will be held from 13th to 15th November 2012 in Minatec, Grenoble, France .

Topics

Exposure assessment
Detection and identification
Toxicology
Environmental interactions
Nanomaterials release
Protection technology
Industrial production
Life Cycle Analysis
Ethics and societal issues
Commercial equipements
Risk management for OHS experts

Programme
The three-day programme for this conference will comprise:

-- Invited plenary lectures

G. Oberdörster (U. ROCHESTER), D. Pui (U. MINNESOTA), D. Brouwer (TNO), T. Nhuyen (NIST), F. Schuster (CEA), B. Nowack (EMPA), R. Muir (NANEUM). D. Bernard (ARKEMA), J. Rose (CEREGE), C. Engeman (UCSB) A. Grobe (U. STUTTGART). A. Grinbaum (CEA), F. Roure (FRENCH MINISTRY FOR ECONOMY, FINANCE AND INDUSTRY), A. Kishimoto (AIST, RISS), C. EMOND (U. MONTREAL), L. Golanski (CEA), O. Witschger (INRS), E. Drais (INRS).

-- Selected oral contributions

- Posters sessions

-- Panel discussions: Governance/ Toxicology/ The opinion of the civil society regarding nanomaterials

-- Exhibition of equipments related to safe production and use of nanomaterials

-- Satellite meetings: TITNT, TRIMATEC, NANOHOUSE

Papers will be presented in oral and poster sessions.

All accepted abstracts will be submitted online and published in a "Book of Abstract".

Full paper will be published after reviewing in the Journal of Physics: Conference Series.

Presentations will be available on the conference website

Deadline for abstracts: JULY 30, 2012

Call for Abstracts:12th International Symposium on Biosafety of Genetically Modified Organisms (ISBGMO12)

Abstract submission deadline: 25th May 2012

17-20 September 2012 St Louis, Missouri

The ISBGMO is a unique opportunity for scientists from across the globe to share experiences and engage in open and meaningful dialogue about biosafety.

Participants include scientists involved in biosafety research and policy, including regulatory authorities, technology developers, academics, non-government organizations, and other credible stakeholders.

The discussion at this ISBGMO12 will be focused on a theme: CONSIDERING BIOSAFETY IN THE APPLICATION OF BIOTECHNOLOGY TO MEET THE CHANGING NEEDS OF AGRICULTURE, HEALTH, AND THE ENVIRONMENT.

Under this theme, presentations and posters in the sessions, mini-symposia, and workshops will potentially address such timely topics, as they relate to biosafety:

New approaches in genetic engineering
Genetically engineered animals/insects
Biotechnology and climate change
Biotechnology and biofuels/energy
Biotechnology for developing countries
Transferring data for risk assessment across environments
Genetically engineered crops and agricultural sustainability
Post-market monitoring
Defining protection goals for risk assessment
Defining the receiving environment
Understanding environmental fate
Key discussions under the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety
Effective capacity building for biotechnology regulation
And others...

The ISBGMO is a bienniel international meeting organized by the International Society for Biosafety Research (ISBR), a society whose membership is composed of individuals with an interest in risk assessment and research related to the environmental risks associated with genetically modified organisms (http://www.isbr.info/).

The ISBGMOs have been offered on a biennial basis since 1990, at various locations throughout the world, including most recently in Argentina (2010), New Zealand (2008), South Korea (2006), France (2004), China(2002), Canada (2000). The 2012 symposium in St. Louis will be the first time it has been offered in the US since it was held in Monterey, CA in 1994.

The Donald Danforth Plant Science Center in St. Louis, whose mission and goals are closely tied to the theme of ISBGMO12, is the local host for this symposium.

For all queries regarding your submitted abstract and program queries please contact:

Jun You
Publishing Content Coordinator
Email: j.you@elsevier.com

Call for Papers: 16th International Conference of the International Society for Respiratory Protection

September 24–27, 2012 Boston, Massachusetts

Abstracts addressing any of the topics listed below may be submitted for consideration for the 16th ISRP Conference no later than June 30, 2012. Presenters will be notified that abstracts/papers are accepted for presentation within 30 days of receipt of their proposal.

Presenters will receive a conference fee discount.

Abstracts to be sent to: boston@isrp.com

Topics: New developments

Research in respiratory protection
New technologies
Civilian respiratory protection
Applications

Mining

Domestic Preparedness/Anti-terrorist Applications
Military RPD
Wildland firefighting RPD
Medical community/infectious disease protection
Natural disasters
Practice

Practical knowledge and applications of RPD for users
Selection, use, and maintenance
Respiratory Protection Programs
Protection Factors Physiology and Human Interactions
Standards & regulations

ISO RPD Standard — a) Issues for implementation worldwide; b) Improvements in RPD performance

Any questions? Send all queries to boston@isrp.com and we will get back to you.