Welcome

Howdy! As conference Co-Chairs, and on behalf of the Texas A&M University System (TAMUS) and Texas A&M University (TAMU), we would like to extend to welcome you to the Disaster Prepare, Respond, Innovate, Mitigate, and Recovery (PRIMR) Conference, which will be held virtually on January 31 – February 4, 2021.

Although we are disappointed that you will not have the opportunity to experience our Texan Aggie hospitality in person at our campus, we sincerely hope that you will enjoy and appreciate (1) the quality of the presentations, discussions, and interactions within the technical program that that we developed with the outstanding support from the members of very dedicated organizing, steering, and programming committees that came together as a high performance team; and also, (2) the quality of the virtual venue that we selected for the delivery of the conference.

Our main goals are that (1) you will leave with a better awareness and appreciation of the various facets and dimensions of disaster preparedness, mitigation, response, and recovery, and also of innovations in these four areas; (2) having an engaging and stimulating environment for an open sharing and exchange of knowledge applied (through best practices), of experiences lived (through lessons learned), and of wisdom gained (though insights), will be of value to you and your organization and community; (3) you will gain a better understanding of the importance of the engagement or universities in all aspects of disasters caused by natural phenomena or human actions, from preparation and mitigation, to response and recovery, through innovation at every stage; and (4) you will be more aware of the capacity in place within TAMU, across TAMUS, and other organizations, to address disaster preparedness, mitigation, response, and recovery for the people of Texas, our Nation, and the World.

So, in closing, once these uncertain times pass, and the choppy waters we are navigating in their wake calm down, please come and visit us in Aggieland. We will be waiting….

Gig ’Em!

Jorge Vanegas, Valentini Pappa, and Cory Arcak