Hollis Stambaugh

Hollis Stambaugh is the Director of the Center for Public Protection for SPC’s TriData division. The Center for Public Protection builds the capacity of local, state, and federal government to deliver emergency-related services at ground zero. Ms. Stambaugh’s Center specializes in technical studies of major disasters and all related elements: emergency planning and preparedness, response, recovery, and assessment of lessons learned and best practices. Her Center also provides technical assistance in maximizing the effectiveness of special investigation teams and in successfully prosecuting criminals. Large-scale survey research and analysis and helping first-responders and related agencies prepare for natural disasters and acts of terrorism complete the spectrum of services that reflect the Center’s mission.

Ms. Stambaugh has a diverse background. Areas in which she excels include emergency preparedness; critical incident analysis, arson control, policy development, strategic planning, public safety education, technical writing and editing, performance measurement, city planning, economic development, survey research, and (Spanish) interpretation and translation.

Ms. Stambaugh has been responsible for numerous, national-level, multi-year contracts including the United States Fire Administration’s (USFA) Major Fires Incident Investigations Project currently in its 11th year. For USFA, she conducts on-site post-incident reviews of significant incidents, such as the Columbine High School massacre, the biological threat at B’nai B’rith Headquarters in Washington, DC, the CSX Rail Tunnel fire and hazmat emergency in Baltimore, MD; and civil disturbances in St. Petersburg, Florida. Other reports have covered major fires with multiple casualties, large dollar loss fires in public assembly, commercial, and residential occupancies, and emergency communications, to name a few.

Ms. Stambaugh developed and managed the Bomb and Arson Unit Management and Technical Assistance Project funded by USFA for 16 years, the longest consecutive running project in the company’s history. Through the project, she assisted over 120 local and state jurisdictions. Other major projects have included the Department of Justice’s first ever-national assessment of the equipment and technologies needed to combat terrorism as well as a second major study on the incidence of cyber crime and the challenges faced by cyber investigators. Both studies were used by the U.S. Attorney General to direct new policy initiatives. Ms. Stambaugh also ran a 3-year FEMA contract to train members of the National Defense Executive Reserve with 36 deliveries nationwide that covered defense industrial base modification, international political and economic briefings, Federal disaster policy, and public information management during crises.

For the Office of the Governor, Commonwealth of Virginia, Ms. Stambaugh headed up an intergovernmental assessment of response to Hurricane Isabel with recommendations that were used to improve preparedness. Also for the Governor, Ms. Stambaugh researched the events and communications during the Pentagon anthrax scare in 2005 and produced lessons learned and recommendations. Her work has included a subcontract to evaluate FEMA’s nuclear power plant field exercises. For the Defense Advanced Research Agency (DARPA), Ms. Stambaugh helped develop and field-test a disease surveillance system to provide early warning of a potential bioterrorist action. Prior to her career in Washington, Ms. Stambaugh was a city planner and emergency preparedness coordinator who oversaw evacuation of a city during the Three Mile Island incident. Ms. Stambaugh majored in foreign languages and literature and has a B.A. from Millersville University, Pennsylvania. She completed additional training in emergency management, and environmental protection.