Home » Acknowledgements

Acknowledgements

	Corrie Brown, DVM, PhD Professor Coordinator of International Activities Dr. Corrie Brown is the Coordinator of International Veterinary Medicine and Professor of Veterinary Pathology at the University of Georgia’s College of Veterinary Medicine. Dr. Brown currently is a member of the Secretary of Agriculture’s Advisory Committee on Foreign Animal and Poultry Diseases, and has testified to Congress on issues involving agroterrorism. She served as Head of Pathology at the USDA Foreign Animal Diseases Diagnostic Laboratory (Plum Island) prior to her current position. She specializes in the diagnosis and pathogenesis of foreign animal diseases (FADs). Dr. Brown has published or presented more than 250 scientific papers and has served on numerous federal and industrial panels regarding infectious and emerging diseases. University of Georgia College of Veterinary Medicine Department of Veterinary Pathology Athens, GA 30602 Office: (706) 542 5842 Fax: (706) 542 5828 corbrown@vet.uga.edu
	Esmond Choueke Writer Esmond Choueke is a feature writer and photographer whose work has appeared in many national and international publications, including The New York Times and Newsweek. He received a B.A. in Economics from McGill University, following which he researched the impact of medical advances for many of his feature articles. esmondc@aol.com
	Wayne Gunn Wayne Gunn is a marketing communications professional and journalist currently living in Chicago. Specializing in industrial assignments, his interpretive graphic photography has been commissioned by Fortune 500 companies to illustrate annual reports, brochures, technical documents and web sites. wayne_gunn@mac.com
	Don Hamilton Homeland Security Coordinator Director, Center for Internet Imaging & Database Systems Don Hamilton is Homeland Security Coordinator for the University of Georgia College of Agricultural & Environmental Sciences, Director of the Center for Internet Imaging & Database Systems, and a member of the Georgia Agroterrorism Committee. Mr. Hamilton has served the College in a variety of information technology roles since 1983 including Director of the Office of Information Technology for six years. Among his accomplishments is development of an extensive Distance Diagnostics system in partnership with Dr. Ed A. Brown, Plant Pathologist. The system is currently hosted by the Center for nine states and Honduras. University of Georgia College of Agricultural & Environmental Sciences Office of Global Programs 212 Hoke Smith Building Athens, GA 30602 Office: (706) 542 4121 Fax: (706) 542 7905 donhamil@uga.edu
	Judy Harrison, PhD Associate Professor Extension Foods Specialist University of Georgia College of Family and Consumer Sciences Department of Foods and Nutrition 204 Hoke Smith Annex Athens, GA 30602 Office: (706) 542 3773 Fax: (706) 542 1979 judyh@uga.edu
	Lee Myers, DVM, MPH, Dipl. ACVPM State Veterinarian Assistant Comissioner of Animal Industry Dr. Lee Myers has been State Veterinarian and Assistant Commissioner of the Animal Industry Division in the Georgia Department of Agriculture since 1995. Dr. Myers has spearheaded numerous initiatives to improve the State's and the Nation’s capacity to prevent and respond to agricultural emergencies, including acts of agroterrorism. As a result of her efforts, she was appointed Chair of the inaugural Agroterrorism Committee for the Homeland Security Task Force under the Governor's Office in 2003. Dr. Myers is board certified in the College of Veterinary Preventive Medicine, and she received a Masters in Public Health from Emory University. She graduated from the University of Georgia College of Veterinary Medicine in 1984, and worked in private practice until her appointment as State Veterinarian. This book is part of her continuing effort to keep America free of serious diseases of animals and crops. Georgia Department of Agriculture 19 Martin Luther King Jr., Drive Atlanta, GA 30334 Office: (404) 656 3671 Fax: (404) 657 1357 lmyers@agr.state.ga.us
	Elisa Soares Graphic and web designer University of Georgia College of Veterinary Medicine Department of Veterinary Pathology Athens, GA 30602 Fax: (706) 542 5828 esoares@vet.uga.edu
	Nelwyn Stone Dr. Nelwyn Stone received her DVM degree from the University Of Georgia College Of Veterinary Medicine. She worked for twenty years in private practice as a small animal/exotic animal practitioner. After retiring from private practice, she was an adjunct instructor at Gwinnett Technical College, teaching biology to veterinary technology students. She then worked for the Georgia Department of Agriculture as Assistant State Veterinarian. While Assistant State Veterinarian she served as Animal Emergency Coordinator for the State. She also wrote a training manual on avian diseases for the Animal Protection inspectors and a training manual on infectious and contagious diseases for Animal Protection as well. She wrote the Equine Strangles brochure for the Department of Agriculture which appears on their website. She was instrumental in bringing the web-based Reportable Animal Disease System (RADS) to fruition as well as the protocols to be used by the Agriculture Information Sharing and Analysis Center (AGISAC). She organized and moderated the conference “Foreign Animal Disease Awareness and Emergency Management Training” in September 2004, which trained over 150 veterinarians in emergency management and foreign animal diseases. She is currently information and education officer and technical writer for the $1.57 million Homeland Security Grant for the Department of Agriculture and is the co-author of Agrosecurity: Protecting Georgia’s Food and Agriculture and author of the annexes to the Georgia Emergency Operations Plan pertaining to agriculture. nlstonedvm@earthlink.net
	Dr. Bill Thomas Professor Bill served as an Extension Dairy Economicst for 28 years before retiring in 2001. He is currently working part-time with the Center for Agribusiness and Economic Development as a Cooperative Development Specialist. He also served 32 years in the National Guard before retiring. While in the National Guard he served in a wide variety including Battalion Commander of the 1/214 FA. He also served as the Military Venue Office during the 1996 Olympics in Athens at the Soccer venue. His last assignment was as Deputy Director of Joint Operations for the Georgia National Guard and provided military support to civil authorities. After 9/11, he served as Command of Sky Guard, the Georgia Guard unit which provide guardsmen for airport security in Georgia. In 2003 he was named to the Agroterrorism Committee of the Georgia Homeland Security Tasks Force to represent the Georgia DOD, the dairy industry and the University of Georgia Cooperative Extension Service. He coordinated the completion of an agricultural Homeland Security risk assessment for Georgia. Georgia was the only state to complete such an assessment at both the local and state level. He is currently coordinating the $1.5 million ODP grant which resulted from that assessment. Bill provides a unique mix of experience and understanding of agriculture with a comprehensive knowledge of the disaster response system at the state and federal level. University of Georgia College of Agricultural & Environmental Sciences Center for Agribusiness & Economic Development 201 Conner Hall Athens, GA 30602 Office: (706) 542 9081 Fax: (760) 542 4131 bthomas@agecon.uga.edu
	Paul Williams, DVM Special Assistant Georgia Office of Homeland Security Georgia Emergency Management Agency Terrorism Emergency Response and Preparedness Dr. Paul Williams joined the staff of the Georgia Emergency Management Agency in 2000 as a Special Assistant to the Director assigned to Consequence Management. He has worked as a coordinator for the Office of Justice and the Office of Domestic Preparedness with a main focus on agroterrorism and food safety as it relates to Weapons of Mass destruction. In 2000 he received the Governors Public Safety Award for Contributions to the Profession. He is a graduate of the University of Georgia with a Doctorate in Veterinary Medicine and has received training at the Emergency Management Institute, the Department of Defense, Department of Energy, Department of Justice, the National Interagency Civil-Military Institute, Center for Domestic Preparedness, Department of Homeland Security and the Centers for Disease Control in Weapons of Mass Destruction response and recovery. In 1999, Dr. Williams conducted the first agroterror exercise in the United States dealing with a highly pathogenic zoonotic disease. The exercise involved 16 state and federal agencies and was highlighted at the International Conference on Emerging Pathogens in 1999. In 2000, Dr. Williams was an evaluator for the Tripartite Exercise on Foot and Mouth Disease for the United States, Canada, and Mexico and became the liaison for the National Emergency Management Association (NEMA) to the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) and the National Animal Health Emergency Management Steering Committee. Following 9/11, Dr. Williams was tasked by NEMA and USDA to write a basic Model State Plan that would deal with catastrophic events involving animals and production agriculture to include agroterror. This model plan on December 15, 2002 was recommended by the Gilmore Commission to the White House Advisory Council on Homeland Security to the President that the intent of this plan be placed in the new National Response Plan. Dr. Williams has made presentations to the American Veterinary Medical Association Annual Conference, the National Disaster Medical System Annual Conference, the National Assembly of US Animal Health Officials, The Council of State Governments Conference on Bio-terrorism, The National Bio-terrorism Summit for the National Governors Association, the US Animal Health Association, the National Institute for Animal Agriculture and the first International Emergency Management Conference. Dr. Williams serves as a subject matter expert for the FBI Strategic Information Operations Center, has recently been named to an advisory committee to the Department of Homeland Security to assist in the implementation of Homeland Security Presidential Directive 9 and was a Coordinator for Food Safety and Mass Casualty issues for the G8 Conference at Sea Island, Georgia in June of 2004. pwilliams@gema.state.ga.us

^ Top of page

[ This page was last updated on Wednesday, June 22, 2005. ]