Resilient Virginia’s Resiliency Academy series was established in 2020 and continues to deliver timely and relevant resiliency topics via webinars. Past topics include resiliency planning “how-to’s” for local governments; disaster mitigation funding; economic impact and opportunities; resilient building and infrastructure design; and the role of ecosystems in community resilience.
Members have access to our entire video library of Academies, along with presentations and video from our past Conferences. Click here for a full list of membership benefits.
Climate and Hazard Mitigation Planning
March 26 –June 18
The Spring 2024 Resiliency Academy virtual series will highlight available tools and resources that communities can use to integrate climate into their Hazard Mitigation Plans and other planning efforts.
We are pleased to offer the 2024 Resiliency Academy free of charge
thanks to funding from MARISA.
Attention Certified Floodplain Managers
Each 2024 Resiliency Academy session has been approved by ASFM for 1 CEC. If you attend any of the sessions, please let us know and we will send you a proof of attendance to submit for your credit.
Attention APA Planners
The second session of the Resiliency Academy has been approved by the Virginia Chapter of the APA for 1 CM.
CM #9289282
Session 2
Integrating Climate in Hazard Mitigation Planning
May 2 | 1:00–2:30 PM
Cost: Free | Location: Virtual
Registration is required for each session.
In this session, we will hear from Virginia Department of Emergency Management (VDEM) and Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) on the new requirements for Hazard Mitigation Plans and available resources. In addition, we will hear directly from some who have already updated Hazard Mitigation Plans according to the new guidelines. Attendees will leave with a better understanding of what is now required when updating Hazard Mitigation Plans and what resources are available.Speakers
Rodney Bahner
Community Planner
FEMA Region 3
Rodney Bahner is a Community Planner with FEMA Region 3, assisting Virginia communities with hazard mitigation planning and project implementation through the Virginia FEMA Integration Team (FIT). Prior to joining FEMA, he worked in local land use planning and historic preservation planning, most recently as the City Planner for Morgantown, West Virginia. Rodney received master’s degrees in Community and Regional Planning and Historic Preservation from the University of Oregon. Outside of the office, he’s served on nonprofit boards committed to advancing historic preservation and increasing parks access.
Dave Mandell
Deputy Director
City of Annapolis Office of Emergency Management
Dave Mandell has served as the Deputy Director of the City of Annapolis Office of Emergency Management since 2014. He graduated from Washington University in St. Louis and also received a Juris Doctor degree from the University of Maryland School of Law. He earned the Certified Emergency Manager designation in 2019. Dave is responsible for all emergency management program areas, including response, planning, grants management, training and education, and public outreach. He manages the City of Annapolis Hazard Mitigation Plan, which was updated most recently in 2023 under the new FEMA guidance. Dave has a passion for bringing major mitigation projects to fruition. He has coordinated efforts that have secured about $9.7 million in mitigation grant funds for Annapolis.
Debbie Messmer
Deputy Director of Grant Management and Recovery
Virginia Department of Emergency Management
Debbie Messmer has worked for the Virginia Department of Emergency Management for 19 years as a Grants Administrator/Project Coordinator, the State Hazard Mitigation Officer, and now as the Deputy Director of Grant Management and Recovery. She has managed over $350 million in mitigation grants across the Commonwealth ranging from acquisition and elevation of private residential properties to large-scale stormwater management projects to small educational opportunities. Debbie currently oversees the management of all Recovery, Mitigation, Preparedness, and NG911 grants administered in Virginia. Debbie received her B.A. from St. Andrews University and managed mitigation grants in North Carolina following Hurricanes Fran and Floyd. Her free time is spent playing tennis and watching her four children play sports.
Anna Kimelblatt, CFM,
Project Planner and Certified Floodplain Manager
Weston & Sampson Engineers
Anna Kimelblatt, CFM, is a Project Planner and Certified Floodplain Manager at Weston & Sampson Engineers with approximately six years of experience in resilience planning and floodplain management. Anna graduated from the College of Charleston with a master’s degree in Environmental and Sustainability Studies. Following graduation, Anna served as Charleston County’s floodplain manager for nearly three years before joining Weston & Sampson. Her expertise includes hazard mitigation planning, Community Rating System administration, National Flood Insurance Program administration, flood mitigation, retrofitting, resilience integration via regulatory tools, sustainable and resilient design, smart growth initiatives, and low impact development. Anna has assisted communities up and down the east coast with updating their hazard mitigation plans and obtaining FEMA approval.
Janet Moonan, PE
Senior Project Manager
Weston & Sampson Engineers
Janet Moonan, PE, is a Senior Project Manager at Weston & Sampson Engineers with nearly 20 years of experience in interdisciplinary water resources planning, permitting, design, and construction. She earned a B.S. in Civil Engineering from Worcester Polytechnic Institute and a M.Eng. in Water Resources from Tufts University. Janet’s focus is on climate resilience projects that improve water quality and mitigate flooding, with a particular focus on nature-based solutions. Janet has prepared numerous FEMA-approved hazard mitigation plans throughout the northeastern U.S. for areas with populations as small as 1,500 to as large as 120,000 people and serves as a trusted advisor for those undertaking the HMP process.
Past Spring Academy Events
• S E S S I O N 1 •
Understanding Climate in Virginia
March 26 • 1:00–2:30 PM
Get acquainted with future climate projections for Virginia in the first session of the series. Jeremy Hoffman, Director of Climate Justice and Impact at Groundwork USA and lead author of the Southeast Chapter of the 5th National Climate Assessment, will present a summary of the most recent projections for this region and additional speakers will discuss how the changing climate will impact their communities. Attendees will leave with a better understanding of how communities across Virginia are going to be impacted by climate change and what they will need to consider in their planning efforts. Resources from this event will be available soon.Speakers
Jeremy Hoffman
Director of Climate Justice and Impact
Groundwork US
Jeremy S. Hoffman, PhD, is the Director of Climate Justice and Impact at Groundwork USA and an
affiliate faculty in the L. Douglas Wilder School of Governmental and Public Affairs at Virginia Commonwealth University and the Department of Geography, Environment, and Sustainability at the University of Richmond. Jeremy is an award-winning environmental educator and nationally recognized climate science communicator. He is the Lead Author for the Southeast Chapter of The Fifth National Climate Assessment, NCA5.
Jeremy will present a summary of the most recent projections for this region and additional speakers will discuss how the changing climate will impact their communities.
Jessica Whitehead
Institute for Coastal Adaptation and Resilience
Old Dominion University
Dr. Jessica Whitehead is the Joan P. Brock Endowed Executive Director of the Institute for Coastal Adaptation and Resilience (ICAR) at Old Dominion University. A nationally recognized expert in climate adaptation and using climate information for resilience policy, Dr. Whitehead served the U.S. Global Change Research Program as the chapter lead author for the Northeast Chapter of the Fifth U.S. National Climate Assessment, released in November 2023.
Within the Commonwealth, she is a member of the Virginia Coastal Resilience Technical Advisory Committee. Previously, Dr. Whitehead was the first state Chief Resilience Officer for North Carolina, based in the NC Office of Recovery and Resiliency, and the first coastal climate extension specialist with NC Sea Grant, the South Carolina Sea Grant Consortium, and the Carolinas Integrated Sciences and Assessments (CISA) Program.
Jessica earned her Doctor of Philosophy in geography and Master of Science in meteorology from The Pennsylvania State University and a Bachelor of Science in physics with a concentration in meteorology from the College of Charleston. Her work helping coastal communities in the Carolinas adapt to climate change has been featured in podcasts, books, newspapers, television, and public radio, including The Washington Post, The New York Times, and The Weather Channel.
Brent Wills
Wills Soil & Stream
Brent Wills has been involved in regenerative agricultural systems and conservation for over 25 years and is the owner of Wills Soil & Stream in Montvale, Virginia, providing ecological land management services for farmers and land managers in the mid-Atlantic region.
Since 2004, Brent and his family have operated Bramble Hollow Farm in the mountains of Bedford County, Virginia, and use managed livestock rotations, composts and other soil-building techniques to diversify their pasture-based operation where they specialize in the production of heritage breeds of pigs and poultry, including farm-hatched heritage birds for laying flocks as well as meat birds.
From 2017 to 2023, Brent served as President on the Board of Directors for the Virginia Association for Biological Farming, promoting soil health, resilient farming practices, and the production of nutrient-dense and ecologically-friendly food. He now serves as Program Manager with VABF, providing technical assistance to farmers, coordinating outreach and educational programming and building a collaborative network of farmers and growers who understand that soil health = human health.
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