Jeff Lewis President International Disaster Assistance & Relief Training (IDART) Contact lewisj@idartweb.org

Research/Teaching Interests
Issues related to disaster management.

Biography
Mr. Jeff Lewis is the President of International Disaster Assistance and Response Training (IDART), a non-profit organization dedicated to education and training modules for all disaster responders in all aspects of emergency management. Current projects include a computer simulation model for emergency response coordination, a bioterrorism course for Nurses and other first receivers, and community awareness lectures covering various aspects of disaster management and terrorism.

IDART is also active in providing support to civil-military relations through the facilitation of workshops, seminars, courses, etc. through the Naval Postgraduate School's Center for Civil-Military Relations (CCMR). One of these programs with whom Mr. Lewis has worked for past 3 years is the Center for Stabilization and Reconstruction Studies (CSRS). Mr. Lewis has supported several CSRS workshops designed to bring together the various communities in rebuilding civil structures during the post-conflict phase.

Mr. Lewis worked for the Center for Excellence in Disaster Management and Humanitarian Assistance (1999-2003) as a subject matter expert and training advisor, as well as heading the Humanitarian Practices and Affairs unit. Most of his work was dedicated to various methods of instruction in civil-military issues, specifically in complex humanitarian emergencies. However, Mr. Lewis also provided country capacity assessments in various aspects of emergency management preparedness.

Mr. Lewis' experience in humanitarian relief efforts began as a Peace Corps Volunteer in the jungle of Ecuador from 1986-89. After graduating from the American Graduate School of International Management (Thunderbird) in December 1990, he became a United Nations Volunteer assigned to the UN World Food Programme (WFP). From 1991, Jeff worked as an Emergency and Logistics Officer in WFP for 6 years, where he provided administrative and logistical support to country offices as well as emergency logistics preparedness for the whole organization. In this role, Mr. Lewis was involved in the inter-agency process coordinating UN and other humanitarian organizations in their emergency management activities.

Mr. Lewis is married with no children and, between extensive travels for work, lives in Austin, Texas, USA.