2023-2024 Scholarship Awardees

The IAEM Scholarship Commission awarded scholarships to four students in emergency management, disaster management and related programs for the 2023-2024 school year. Congratulations to this year’s IAEM Scholarship recipients.

2023-2024 Scholarship Recipient Profiles

Alsina Brenenstuhl the seventh awardee of the Robert C. Bohlmann, CEM, Scholarship for Service in Emergency Management is earning a B.S. degree in Information Systems and Cyber Security/Homeland Security at Columbia Southern University in Orange Beach, Alabama. As a full-time student, Alsina also works full-time as a planner for the Piscataquis County, Maine, Emergency Management Agency. At an October 2022 LEPC meeting, she was honored for her work on the county’s Hazard Mitigation Plan. She took on the lead role in rewriting the plan, embracing all aspects of the project, from research to learning GIS for maps and imaging to designing polls and QR codes. FEMA approved the complete upgrade of the old plan on March 28, 2023, and the EMA director believes that “it would not have happened without Alsina’s hand on it.” Aside from her EMA duties, she also coordinates the town’s Hydro/Dam redevelopment project. Alsina was awarded a $5,000 IAEM Undergraduate Student Scholarship.

Julie Elliott is working toward a Ph.D. in Disaster Science and Management at the University of Delaware in Newark, Delaware. She earned an M.S. in Emergency Management and Disaster Science and a B.S. in Emergency Administration and Planning from the University of North Texas. Julie interned with the City of Denton Office of Emergency Management as an undergraduate, where she worked on several planning projects and assisted with public education, training, and exercises. In 2019, Julie became the emergency management coordinator at UNT. While at UNT, she facilitated a professional development program for office interns. She was also involved in the planning and facilitating of a regional emergency management conference that focused on bringing together scholars and practitioners. Julie is a graduate teaching assistant for DISA courses and is working with two researchers to analyze a larger set of survey data related to Hurricane Ian evacuations. Julie was interviewed about the role of faith-based organizations in disasters on the April 30 The Current of Emergency Management podcast. She was awarded a $4,000 IAEM Full-Time Graduate Student Scholarship.

Brianna Rider, PharmD, FISMP, CPPS, NHDP-BC, CHEC, is completing an M.P.S. in Emergency and Disaster Management at Georgetown University School for Continuing Studies in Washington, D.C. She is the sixth awardee of the Samuel Henry Prince IAEM Scholarship for part-time graduate students funded by IAEM-Canada. Brianna is a program analyst in the Incident Management Team Division at the Administration for Strategic Preparedness and Response (ASPR). In her role, Brianna has managed the hiring, onboarding, and orientation of a diverse and ready cadre of more than fifty new intermittent incident management responders who can deploy within 24 hours. She updated the IMT Basic Online Course that is required for all personnel assigned to IMT roles. Brianna is an active-duty pharmacist officer in the U.S. Public Health Service Commissioned Corps stationed at the Department of Health and Human Services’ Administration for Strategic Preparedness and Response. Brianna received a $3,000 IAEM Part-time Graduate Student Scholarship.

Jeffrey Tochkin, CEM, is earning a Ph.D. in Healthcare Resiliency at the University of Sheffield in Sheffield, England. He received an M.A. in Disaster and Emergency Management from Royal Roads University. Jeffrey is the manager of health emergency management for the Provincial Health Services Authority in Kelowna, British Columbia, Canada. He leads project work within the Interior Health Authority and is the liaison to the Interior Health’s EOC and regional incident command. His prior experience includes being an emergency management officer with Alberta Health Services, emergency management coordinator for The Ottawa Hospital, emergency management coordinator at Horizon Health Network, and emergency management advisor for Fraser Health Authority. He is the author of many articles and recently published in the BMJ Leader an article titled “Healthcare Systems Leadership and Climate Change: Five Lessons for Improving Health Resiliency. Jeffrey was awarded a $3,000 IAEM Part-time Graduate Student Scholarship.

Previous IAEM Scholarship Recipients

Download a chart of past recipients of IAEM Scholarships.

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