CARRI Blog Contributors


Warren C. Edwards

Warren Edwards is the Director of the Community and Regional Research Institute (CARRI) in Oak Ridge, Tennessee. CARRI is housed at the Meridian Institute where their partnership can leverage both organizations’ deep expertise in building collaborative foundations for resilience and stability. The mission of CARRI is to help develop and then share critical paths that any community or region may take to strengthen its ability to prepare for, respond to, and rapidly recover from significant man-made or natural disasters with minimal downtime of basic community, government, and business services. CARRI supports communities in their resilience building efforts and also works with state, regional, and national stakeholders to create incentives and support for community resilience.

After retiring as a Major General from the United States Army and before joining UT-Battelle, Mr. Edwards served as the Chief Operating Officer for Oak Ridge Technology Connections (TechConnect), LLC. In that position he established the start-up business plan, the operating systems, policies, and business procedures for a high-technology consulting enterprise and brought them to full operating capability. Prior to TechConnect, Mr. Edwards was a Senior Director for CACI, Inc. in Atlanta, Georgia. In that capacity, he established the Atlanta operations office for CACI and managed a series of programs throughout the Southeast supporting the Department of Defense and other federal agencies. During his more than 30 years of military service, Mr. Edwards held numerous positions including, Deputy Commanding General, Coalition Land Component Command/3rd US Army, Operation Enduring Freedom (Afghanistan); Deputy Commanding General, 5th US Army; Assistant Division Commander, 2nd Infantry Division, Republic of Korea; and Chief of Staff, US Army Aviation Center and School, Fort Rucker, Alabama. Senior-level commands include the 4th Squadron, 7th Cavalry, 2nd Infantry Division, Republic of Korea and the 10th Aviation Brigade, 10th Mountain Division, Fort Drum, New York. Mr. Edwards also served as the Chief of the Operations Division, National Military Command System, the Joint Staff.

Mr. Edwards graduated from the University of Richmond, Richmond Virginia and holds a Masters of Military Arts and Sciences from the US Army Command and Staff College and a Masters of Science in International Studies from the US Naval War College.

Ann K. Farrar 

Ms. Ann K. Farrar currently serves as the Deputy Director of the Community and Regional Resilience Institute (CARRI) in Oak Ridge, Tennessee. CARRI is housed at the Meridian Institute where their partnership can leverage both organizations’ deep expertise in building collaborative foundations for resilience and stability. The mission of CARRI is to help develop and then share critical paths that any community or region may take to strengthen its ability to prepare for, respond to, and rapidly recover from significant man-made or natural disasters with minimal downtime of basic community, government, and business services. CARRI supports communities in their resilience building efforts and also works with state, regional, and national stakeholders to create incentives and support for community resilience.

Ann manages and oversees day-to-day operations of CARRI as well as providing management and oversight of the Community Resilience Practice Division. She has over 20 years of management experience with the federal government, including managing small technical projects and major programs with annual budgets exceeding $100M. Her undergraduate degree is from Maryville College in Business Management and Computer Science and she has graduate studies in Engineering from the University of Tennessee.

 

 

  

Arthur A. (Andy) Felts

Arthur A. (Andy) Felts received his bachelor’s degree from Miami University and his masters and doctoral degree from Penn State. He has held faculty and administrative positions at Morehouse College, East Tennessee State University, Appalachian State University and the College of Charleston. Currently the director of the Riley Center at the College of Charleston, he has also served as director of the Master of Public Administration program and was founding director of the Master of Environmental Studies program.

As director of the Riley Center, he has been the principal investigator for numerous programs, including major evaluation projects for the US Department of Health and Human Services, US Department of Justice, and US Department of Housing and Urban Development. He has served on the editorial board of several journals and currently the chair of the American

Society for Public Administration’s Section on Democracy and Social Justice and the board of the Section on Public Administration Research.

 

  

M. J. (John) Plodinec

Dr. M. J. (John) Plodinec is the Science Advisor of the Savannah River National Laboratory (SRNL) where he is the Lab’s “Science Guardian,” and is responsible for fostering strategic university partnerships. He is currently the lead for SRNL’s support of the Southeast Region Research Initiative, aimed at improving the ability of the southern region to respond to and recover from disruptive events, especially natural disasters. This currently involves support of the Community and Regional Resilience Institute, and programs to improve debris management and the resilience of residences. Dr. Plodinec returned to SRNL in 2005 after nine years at Mississippi State University (MSU) where he led efforts in characterizing the ability of structures to withstand wind events with the Idaho National Laboratory. He was also MSU’s representative on a multi-university consortium (SEVEER) aimed at better prediction of hurricanes and other windstorms, and improved mitigation techniques.

Dr. Plodinec is heavily engaged in the renewable energy arena and currently leads the Solid Fuels Committee of the South Carolina Biomass Council. This Committee is the focal point for enhancing the use of solid biomass fuels in South Carolina. He is a member of the Energy Supply Working Group of the governor’s Climate Change Initiative. Dr. Plodinec was the initial technology lead for the state of Mississippi’s Alternative Energy Enterprise, and helped guide this program as it developed alternative energy projects across the state. Dr. Plodinec has in-depth knowledge of and experience in many disciplines related to hazardous waste; he is an internationally recognized expert in nuclear waste characterization, vitrification, and disposition, and has extensive experience in chemical waste management as well. Having spent more than 22 years with the Department of Energy’s (DOE) Defense Waste Processing Facility at the Savannah River Site Dr. Plodinec is regularly consulted by several of the DOE sites, by DOE headquarters, and by external groups such as the Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board, and the National Academies of Science and Engineering on waste management issues. Dr. Plodinec also led an effort to assist the Indian glass and metal foundry industries in converting from coal to natural gas to protect the Taj Mahal from further deterioration.