Thomas Behler
Summer2008 WAS*IS

I currently am a tenured Full Professor of  Sociology at Ferris State University in Big Rapids, MI.  I received my Bachelor’s Degree in Sociology from Moravian College in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania in 1975, my Masters Degree from Rutgers University in 1980, and my Ph D in Sociology from the University of Delaware in 1987.

As a sociologist, I have always been interested in how communities respond to emergencies, and what affects those responses.  For example, my Doctoral Dissertation focused on the response of a local community near the Three Mile Island Nuclear plant to the 1979 accident at that facility.

More recently, I have become actively involved in emergency preparedness and response-related concerns in both my local community, and at Ferris State University.  This involvement has become evident in my role as amateur radio emergency communications coordinator for my county;  my active role in several Local Emergency Response organizations; and my increasingly prominent role as a member of Ferris State University’s Emergency Response Team.  In addition, I have completed a wide array of training courses in emergency communications, emergency response, emergency field operations, exercise design, and the National Incident Management System (NIMS).

Within the past two years, I also have developed and offered a new course in Ferris State’s Sociology program entitled “The Sociology Of Disasters And Emergency Preparedness”.  The course has successfully been offered two times, and now is becoming a permanent part of our Sociology curriculum.

I have come to believe that the Social Sciences are filled with opportunities for integrating the science of weather forecasting, with the more social-scientific goals of research and community outreach.    I also have become  convinced that a more social-scientific approach to weather and weather forecasting can uniquely serve people with disabilities.   The disabled undoubtedly have a variety of  unique concerns when it comes to preparing for, and responding to, actual or potential severe weather situations.  I wish to more thoroughly understand and address these unique concerns in order to ensure that these “special needs” populations are adequately served when necessary.
View my CV --> SOI