Academic and Training Program Hub

The BA in Disaster Management prepares students for a career in emergency services where they will find employment in public, private, and governmental organizations. Graduates earn coveted FEMA certifications in Incident Command and Homeland Security through their curriculum. If a student has industry related experience prior to enrolling, they are able to earn academic credit for the knowledge they have acquired outside the classroom. This is done through the Prior Learning Assessment process.

The Advanced Fire Officer Development Certificate comprises the four courses the Florida Fire College requires of firefighters wishing to promote to the level of captain. Each of these courses not only provide academic credit towards the FIU certificate but are also sent to Florida Fire College to be used to meet industry standards for promotional practices.

The Academy for International Disaster Preparedness at Florida International University focuses on a comprehensive educational foundation in disaster management and emergency medical services that recognizes the need to educate practicing and aspiring professionals who demand additional academic knowledge and realistic experience to be better prepared for, respond to, and recover from natural and human disasters as well as acts of terrorism. Through experiential, online, and classroom learning, learners apply content knowledge, critical thinking/problem-solving, and communication skills to operational approaches of disaster management, empowering learners to be better practitioners and scholars in their chosen field.

The WHIRL is dedicated to the study of the effects and impact of wind storms, including hurricanes, tornadoes, and thunderstorms, and other related meteorological hazards (e.g. flooding, and storm surges) on the natural environment and man-made structures. The laboratory involves a multidisciplinary team of engineers, scientists, and business experts, who take advantage of a geographic location in the heart of Florida Space Coast, to serve the needs of industry, government, and the public in wind hazard mitigation.

Established in 1972, the Center for Urban and Environmental Solutions (CUES) is dedicated to helping communities and decision-makers plan for urban and environmental issues through partnerships, education, and research throughout Florida and beyond. The Center works with policy-makers and the public in the pursuit of options for managing growth while preserving natural systems, promoting a strong economy, and planning livable communities. A broad constituency - local governments, state agencies, civic and business groups, academics, students, and professionals - supports, motivates, and benefits from the Center’s activities.

Since 2020, our researchers at RIDER work on advancing the quality of life of our communities in Florida and the American Southeast by identifying disaster vulnerability, improving infrastructure, investigating ways to minimize negative impacts of natural disasters, and developing new methods for economic efficiency and environmental management. RIDER probes the underlying causes of disaster vulnerability in communities while accounting for infrastructure characteristics and assessing their significance through various computational methods such as machine learning, causality, and regression models. Furthermore, our researchers explore the complexity of these goals which are dependent on available infrastructure, land use, and other localized, place-based parameters.

The Florida Climate Institute (FCI) is an unfunded network of researchers in Florida who voluntarily collaborate on climate-related research around the world.

The mission of the Georgetown Climate Center is to advance ambitious and equitable government responses to the climate crisis in the U.S. at the national, state, and local levels. The Georgetown Climate Center (GCC) was established in 2009 at the request of state leaders who recognized the need to strengthen connections between climate policies and policymakers at all levels of government and to help policymakers develop aligned strategies that work together to address climate change.We aim to help good ideas make their way into laws and regulations, so we focus on helping federal, state, and local leaders with the messy and complicated business of practical, real world policymaking. GCC serves as a resource to state, federal, and local policymakers who are working to develop policies to reduce greenhouse gas pollution and become more resilient to the effects of climate change, providing legal, policy, and process support to inform policy development.