Disaster Science Operations Center Mission

DSOC is anchored by interdisciplinary operational collaborations at WKU between White Squirrel Weather and the Meteorology Program, Environmental Health & Safety, Public Broadcasting, and Athletics. Together, these units interface with Police, Fire, Emergency Medical Services, and Emergency Management for anticipated risk, incident management, and all-hazards monitoring and communications. 

The mission of DSOC is to furnish students with an operational, experiential learning and research experience that returns tangible health and safety services to WKU and its broader community, as well as partnered entities and the state of Kentucky. At its core, DSOC seeks to serve as a proactive all-hazards mitigation effort for the protection of life, property, and the economy of these entitles, while ensuring pathways for student success through innovative and best practices of applied learning and research.

· Develop and implement an all-hazards mitigation strategy for WKU

· Provide all-hazards monitoring services for partnered entities, including onsite real-time support

· Provide innovative customized hyperlocal weather forecast and decision-support services for partnered entities, including onsite real-time efforts

· Provide credentialed training in meteorological applications for partnered entities via innovative customized workshops

· Support the Emergency Management Disaster Science (EMDS) undergraduate and graduate certificate programs and the graduate Homeland Security Sciences program as the companion education components

· Provide high-quality communications and outreach extension of education efforts provided by the center

 A unique element of DSOC is our innovative undergraduate and graduate online certificate programs in Emergency Management Disaster Science (EMDS). Our EMDS programs offer students and professionals a robust co-credential for advanced career readiness and student success. DSOC professionals have expertise and experience in education outreach and safety training across all sectors. The DSOC hosts a collection of specialized services for notable agencies and industry partnerships . In addition to: 

· Credible, tangible, and measurable applied learning & research experiences to support pathways for post-graduate education and career-readiness

· Develop skillsets unique to various applications in disaster science

· Create confident professionals with the capability to critically evaluate complex situations and provide robust solutions.

We specialize in the following:

· FEMA/ICS-certified instruction and training

· Certified Class IV-A Drinking Water Operator

· Scalable real-time weather forecasting (on and off-site support), with a particular emphasis on severe and winter weather

· Meteorological intelligence and decision-support for events and facilities of all sizes, with a particular emphasis on severe and winter weather

· Meteorological instrumentation, surveillance, and communications

· Storm water and Indoor/Outdoor Air quality

· All-hazards training and communications (including social media) tv, radio, other digital formats

· Situational awareness development and outreach

· Professional research applications, including forensic analysis

· Credentials and Certifications in Emergency Management Disaster Science and Homeland Security Sciences at undergraduate & graduate levels

Scalable real-time weather forecasting (on and off-site support), with a particular emphasis on severe and winter weather

· Meteorological intelligence and decision-support for events and facilities of all sizes, with a particular emphasis on severe and winter weather

· Customized credentialed training, table-tops, workshops in various emergency management, health & safety, and meteorological applications