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HAZUS User of the Year

A way for FEMA to recognize four individuals a year, dedicated to furthering the success of HAZUS. Nominate a HAZUS user, developer, trainer or anyone who has added to the value of HAZUS and emergency management.

As a way of recognizing those individuals who are dedicated to furthering the success of HAZUS, FEMA has created the HAZUS User of the Year designation to help show appreciation to those who have contributed to the success of the program. The success of HAZUS is determined by awareness and usage - the more that communities are aware of its capabilities and utilize the program, the more lives can be saved, economic losses are decreased, preparedness increases, and faster response and recovery times are witnessed in impacted communities.

Each quarter, FEMA will spotlight the contributions of a HAZUS user who has provided exceptional services to the expansion of the HAZUS program. This individual may be a user, a developer, a trainer or anyone who has been involved in adding value to HAZUS. For example, you may nominate someone that has recently started using HAZUS for innovative projects, has created or participated in a HAZUS User Group (HUG), or that has prepared or taught a new HAZUS course.

S. Kate Ploeger, University of Ottawa

Congratulations to S. Kate Ploeger, Ph.D. Student, University of Ottawa, the 2009 4th Quarter HAZUS User of the Year. Ms. Ploeger is the first international recipient of the HAZUS User of the Year award. Ms. Ploeger’s research sets an example for using HAZUS for earthquake mitigation and emergency management strategies in eastern Canada.

She worked with HAZUS to identify areas that are physically and socially vulnerable to earthquake ground shaking as well as presented earthquake loss estimations for two census tracts (ten dissemination areas) in downtown Ottawa, Canada.

To create “HAZUS-ready” databases for her research she: 1) completed a detailed building inventory of downtown Ottawa; 2) tallied relevant census information; 3) conducted microzonation studies to allow mapping of the study area by NEHRP (National Earthquake Hazard Reduction Program) site classes, in collaboration with the Geological Survey of Canada and Carleton University; 4) assessed earthquake induced hazards; and 5) estimated seismic losses for ground-motions given in the 2005 National Building Code of Canada for expected motions at a 2% exceedence probability in 50 years.

All collected data were assembled into a set of standard geodatabases that were compatible with HAZUS-MH using a GIS specific procedure. The final research identified areas with the greatest amount of losses in downtown Ottawa.

Read her complete award here.