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News Release
6-4-09
WVDA EMPLOYEE SELECTED FOR PRESTIGIOUS
HOMELAND SECURITY TRAINING PROGRAM
The U.S. Dept. of Homeland Security (DHS) has selected West Virginia Department of Agriculture (WVDA) Homeland Security Coordinator Dr. Matt Blackwood to attend the prestigious Naval Postgraduate School (NPS) Center for Homeland Defense and Security (CHDS) MA program. After graduation in September 2010, Blackwood will join an elite group of homeland security experts.
Blackwood and Beckley Fire Chief Kevin Taylor are the first West Virginians to attend the school. The DHS selected only 27 candidates this year from a nationwide pool of applicants who competed for the coveted training slots. Blackwood had to write four essays and get three letters of recommendation. One letter had to be from his employer stating they supported his training effort.
“This is a fantastic honor for Dr. Blackwood and the Department,” said Commissioner of Agriculture Gus R. Douglass. “Developing a homeland security program and an agricultural incident management team has been one of my top priorities in recent years. I’m thrilled to see Matt recognized for his expertise and look forward to seeing what he brings back to the Department.”
Studying may come easier for Blackwood than for some of the other candidates. He completed his Ph.D. just six years ago at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University. His dissertation was titled: “Local Emergency Planning Committees: Collaboration, Risk Communication, Information Technology and Homeland Security.”
He also comes from a family of scholars. His mother, Dr. Jo Blackwood, is a professor of Teacher Education at the University of Charleston. His father, Dr. Neale Blackwood is a math professor at the University of Charleston. His brother, Dr. Andrew Blackwood is the director of the National Youth Science Foundation.
The degree requires a thesis on a topic related to the candidate’s sponsoring agency. He will write about agricultural security issues.
According to the NPS, the program will give him the knowledge and skills to:
- Develop strategies, plans and programs to prevent terrorist attacks within the United States, and reduce America’s vulnerability to terrorism;
- Build the organizational arrangements needed to strengthen homeland security, including local/tribal/state/federal, civil-military and interagency cooperation;
- Help mayors, governors and federal officials improve homeland security preparedness by conducting “real world” actionable policy and strategy development.
“I think it’s going to be a really neat opportunity,” Blackwood said. “I’m really looking forward to getting out there and getting started.”
The West Virginia Department of Agriculture protects plant, animal and human health through a variety of scientific, regulatory and consumer protection programs, as mandated by state law. The Commissioner of Agriculture is one of six statewide elected officials in West Virginia. Currently, Commissioner Gus R. Douglass is the longest-serving agriculture commissioner in the nation. For more information, visit www.wvagriculture.org.
“The Basis of All Wealth is Agriculture.”
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