WASHINGTON, D.C. Sept. 20, 2017 — Woolpert Senior Vice President Jeff Lovin has been asked to speak regarding the “NOAA Digital Coast and Disaster Preparedness” at a Congressional staff briefing Thursday. The briefing will be hosted by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and the Digital Coast Partnership, in conjunction with U.S. Rep. Dutch Ruppersberger, D-Maryland, and U.S. Rep. Don Young, R-Alaska.

The Digital Coast is a NOAA-sponsored initiative that aggregates the input of its member partners to provide public safety, emergency response and economic resources to coastal communities through imagery, data and training.

Thursday’s event will address how recent hurricanes have made “coastal vulnerability painfully evident,” and how specific, proven steps will make recovery faster, stronger and smarter. The stated purpose of the briefing is to detail “what works, what doesn’t and where we go from here.”

Panelists like Lovin, who is representing the private sector, will discuss how the Digital Coast Partnership is a successful, bipartisan model for coordinating vital information and education across multiple public and private sectors to support coastal communities.

“The coastal environment is the most densely populated area in our country, yet it is ever-changing due to common erosion and extreme weather events like we just saw with Harvey and Irma,” said Lovin, Woolpert’s director of Government Solutions.

Woolpert collected high-resolution imagery immediately following hurricanes Harvey and Irma, providing data aggregated with that of NOAA and Google to assist in relief efforts and assess infrastructure damage.

Lovin said these collections and the Digital Coast initiative illustrate how our technological advances should be leveraged to mitigate the impact of natural disasters.

“It is our obligation to work together to provide these resources if they are available,” Lovin said. “We’ve enjoyed our long-standing relationship with NOAA, and are proud to have been involved in the Digital Coast initiative for nearly a decade. We’re excited to see it move forward.”

About Woolpert

Woolpert is a national architecture, engineering and geospatial (AEG) firm that delivers value to clients by strategically blending engineering excellence with leading-edge technology and geospatial applications. With a dynamic R&D department, Woolpert works with inventive business partners like Google and Esri; operates a fleet of planes, sensors and unmanned aircraft systems (UAS); and continually pushes industry boundaries by working with advanced water technologies, asset management, Building Information Modeling (BIM) and sustainable design. Woolpert’s mission is to help its clients progress—and become more progressive. For over 100 years and with 25 offices across the United States, Woolpert serves the needs of federal, state and local governments; private and public companies and universities; energy and transportation departments; and the United States Armed Forces. The firm currently is doing business in all 50 states and in six countries. For more information, visit woolpert.com or call 937-531-1258.