The 4th annual Biological Threat Reduction (BTR) conference discussing underlying science implications to strategic analysis and policy, and effectiveness within the area of homeland security, will be held Wednesday through Friday, March 17 - 19, at the Wyndham Hotel Albuquerque. This year’s conference, BTR 2004: Unified Science & Technology for Reducing Biological Threats & Countering Terrorism, will focus on the theme “Homeland Security: Toward Converging Partnerships.”
BTR 2004 is an open public forum bringing together national security strategists, faculty from leading science and engineering departments at universities and Department of Energy (DOE) and Department of Defense (DoD) labs, industrial scientists and government and industry leaders. Presentations are non-proprietary and prepared for a public forum.
Rob Duncan, assistant to the Vice Provost for Research at the University of New Mexico, is the conference chair and Brigadier General Annette Sobel is the program chair. Other individuals participating from UNM include Roger L. Hagengruber, director UNM Office of Policy, Security & Technology and Stanley A. Morain, director, UNM Earth Data Analysis Center. Hagengruber will give the talk “A Perspective on Threat” at 8:30 a.m. on Thursday, March 18, and Morain will give a talk on “Satellite Technology for Assessing Biological Threats and Enhancing Bio-Surveillance” at 4 p.m. on Friday, March 19.
Speakers of note include Stephen M. Younger, keynote speaker and Senior Fellow at Los Alamos National Laboratory, who will discuss “A Retrospective of World Terror Issues.” Guest speaker W. Craig Vanderwagen, assistant surgeon general, will present a discussion on “Standing Up the Iraq System and Awareness of the Bioterror Potential.” Younger and Vanderwagen will present their talks on Thursday, March 18 at 8:45 a.m. and 9:45 a.m. respectively.
Three technical sessions, with panels, include the following: Session 1: International/National Level Preparedness and Response, which focuses on the underlying national infrastructure development for preparedness, response, and mitigation against acts of terror; Session 2: Effective Preparedness through Countermeasures, which delves into the anticipatory approach to threat deterrence employing science and technology; and Session 3: States and Regions: Preparedness and Response, which emphasizes broader policy and strategy levels focused on the interface between the scientific and research and development communities, and the operational communities at the state and local levels in an effort to continually evolve a common operational picture and solutions.
The conference is co-sponsored by the New Mexico Governor’s Office of Homeland Security; UNM Office of the Vice Provost for Research; UNM Office of Policy, Security, & Technology; UNM School of Medicine; Argonne National Laboratory; Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory; Los Alamos National Laboratory; Oak Ridge National Laboratory; and Sandia National Laboratories.
For a complete list of times and topics for each session, and online registration, which is available through March 14, visit www.BTR-Albuquerque.org.
BTR registration forms and fees must be received before the conference for each registrant. The registration fee of $300 includes the early arrival reception, continental breakfasts, lunches and breaks, conference reception and one copy each of the Program / Abstracts book and the Proceedings. The registration fee after March 1 and onsite is $350.
For more information, contact Barbara L. Daniels, BTR coordinator, at (505) 272-7214 or by e-mail at: (daniels@unm.edu).
Contact: Steve Carr (505) 277-1821
Posted by kwentworth at February 25, 2004 01:29 PM