In establishing the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), the Administration and Congress determined that science and technology should play a key role in the nation's efforts to counter terrorism. Congress included an S&T directorate prominently in the DHS. Within that directorate, is the Office of University Programs, which is responsible for sponsoring a number of homeland security centers of excellence in the nation's universities. These centers are to work on a spectrum of short- and long-range R&D and carry out crosscutting, multidisciplinary work on a variety of threats. To assist it in planning for these centers, TSA asked the NRC to hold a workshop to generate a broad range of ideas to draw on to help define the centers. This report presents the results of that workshop including the major ideas that emerged from the discussions.
To ensure its protection from enemies both foreign and domestic, a government must invest resources and personnel toward the goal of homeland security. It is through these endeavors that citizens are able to live out their lives in peace. Cases on Research and Knowledge Discovery: Homeland Security Centers of Excellence presents a series of studies and descriptive examples on the US Department of Homeland Security and related research. Through its investigation of interesting challenges and thought-provoking ideas, this volume offers professionals, researchers, and academics in the fields of security science, engineering, technology, and mathematics an in-depth discussion of some of the issues that directly affect the safety, security, and prosperity of the nation.
I learned a great deal during my summer internship at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL). I plan to continue a career in research, and I feel that my experience at LLNL has been formative. I was exposed to a new area of research, as part of the Single Particle Aerosol Mass Spectrometry (SPAMS) group, and I had the opportunity to work on projects that I would not have been able to work on anywhere else. The projects both involved the use of a novel mass spectrometer that was developed at LLNL, so I would not have been able to do this research at any other facility. The first project that Zachary and I worked on involved using SPAMS to detect pesticides. The ability to rapidly detect pesticides in a variety of matrices is applicable to many fields including public health, homeland security, and environmental protection. Real-time, or near real-time, detection of potentially harmful or toxic chemical agents can offer significant advantages in the protection of public health from accidental or intentional releases of harmful pesticides, and can help to monitor the environmental effects of controlled releases of pesticides for pest control purposes. The use of organophosphate neurotoxins by terrorists is a possibility that has been described; this is a legitimate threat, considering the ease of access, toxicity, and relatively low cost of these substances. Single Particle Aerosol Mass Spectrometry (SPAMS) has successfully been used to identify a wide array of chemical compounds, including drugs, high explosives, biological materials, and chemical warfare agent simulants. Much of this groundbreaking work was carried out by our group at LLNL. In our work, we had the chance to show that SPAMS fulfills a demonstrated need for a method of carrying out real-time pesticide detection with minimal sample preparation. We did this by using a single particle aerosol mass spectrometer to obtain spectra of five different pesticides. Pesticide samples were chosen to represent four common classes of pesticides that are currently used in the US. Permethrin (a pyrethrin insecticide), dichlorvos and malathion (organophosphates), imidacloprid (a chloronicotinyl pesticide), and carbaryl (a carbamate) were selected for analysis. Samples were aerosolized either in water (using a plastic nebulizer) or in ethanol (using a glass nebulizer), and the particles entered the SPAMS instrument through a focusing lens stack. The particles then passed through a stage with three tracking lasers that were used to determine each particle's velocity. This velocity was used to calculate when to fire a desorption/ionization (D/I) laser in order to fragment the particle for analysis in a dual polarity time of flight mass spectrometer. Signals were digitized, and then analyzed using LLNL-developed software. We obtained chemical mass spectral signatures for each pesticide, and assigned peaks to the mass spectra based on our knowledge of the pesticides chemical structures. We then proved the robustness of our detection method by identifying the presence of pesticides in two real-world matrices: Raid{trademark} Ant Spray and a flea collar. To sample these, we simply needed to direct aerosolized particles into the SPAMS instrument. The minimal sample preparation required makes SPAMS very attractive as a detector. Essentially, we were able to show that SPAMS is a reliable and effective method for detecting pesticides at extremely low concentrations in a variety of matrices and physical states. The other project that I had the opportunity to be a part of did not involve data collection in the lab; it consisted of analyzing a large amount of data that had already been collected. We got to look at data collected over the course of about two months, when the SPAMS instrument was deployed to a public place. The machine sampled the air and collected spectra for over two months, storing all the spectra and associated data; we then looked at an approximately two-month subset of this data to search for patterns in the types of particles being detected. Essentially, we were able to identify particle types among all the spectra collected by clustering the spectra into groups of similar spectra. This was done using software that had been previously developed by our group (Dr. Paul Steele, a former group member, was instrumental in helping us learn how to use the software). Once we had found particles that seemed to recur, we faced the task of trying to figure out what these particles were. To do this, we compared the average spectra for each major cluster to those of several common compounds. We were able to tentatively identify at least one compound this way. We also looked at patterns in the appearance of different compounds. For instance, there were some compounds that only appeared at certain times of the day.
The events of September 11, 2001 changed perceptions, rearranged national priorities, and produced significant new government entities, including the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) created in 2003. While the principal mission of DHS is to lead efforts to secure the nation against those forces that wish to do harm, the department also has responsibilities in regard to preparation for and response to other hazards and disasters, such as floods, earthquakes, and other "natural" disasters. Whether in the context of preparedness, response or recovery from terrorism, illegal entry to the country, or natural disasters, DHS is committed to processes and methods that feature risk assessment as a critical component for making better-informed decisions. Review of the Department of Homeland Security's Approach to Risk Analysis explores how DHS is building its capabilities in risk analysis to inform decision making. The department uses risk analysis to inform decisions ranging from high-level policy choices to fine-scale protocols that guide the minute-by-minute actions of DHS employees. Although DHS is responsible for mitigating a range of threats, natural disasters, and pandemics, its risk analysis efforts are weighted heavily toward terrorism. In addition to assessing the capability of DHS risk analysis methods to support decision-making, the book evaluates the quality of the current approach to estimating risk and discusses how to improve current risk analysis procedures. Review of the Department of Homeland Security's Approach to Risk Analysis recommends that DHS continue to build its integrated risk management framework. It also suggests that the department improve the way models are developed and used and follow time-tested scientific practices, among other recommendations.
Civil and environmental engineers work together to develop, build, and maintain the man-made and natural environments that make up the infrastructures and ecosystems in which we live and thrive. Civil and Environmental Engineering: Concepts, Methodologies, Tools, and Applications is a comprehensive multi-volume publication showcasing the best research on topics pertaining to road design, building maintenance and construction, transportation, earthquake engineering, waste and pollution management, and water resources management and engineering. Through its broad and extensive coverage on a variety of crucial concepts in the field of civil engineering, and its subfield of environmental engineering, this multi-volume work is an essential addition to the library collections of academic and government institutions and appropriately meets the research needs of engineers, environmental specialists, researchers, and graduate-level students.
Every job can lead to stress. How people cope with that stress can be influenced by many factors. The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) employs a diverse staff that includes emergency responders, border patrol agents, federal air marshals, and policy analysts. These employees may be exposed to traumatic situations and disturbing information as part of their jobs. DHS is concerned that long-term exposure to stressors may reduce individual resilience, negatively affect employees' well-being, and deteriorate the department's level of operation readiness. To explore DHS workforce resilience, the Institute of Medicine hosted two workshops in September and November 2011. The September workshop focused on DHS's operational and law enforcement personnel, while the November workshop concentrated on DHS policy and program personnel with top secret security clearances. The workshop brought together an array of experts from various fields including resilience research, occupation health psychology, and emergency response. Building a Resilient Workforce: Opportunities for the Department of Homeland Security: Workshop Summary: Defines workforce resilience and its benefits such as increased operational readiness and long-term cost savings for the specified population; Identifies work-related stressors faced by DHS workers, and gaps in current services and programs; Prioritizes key areas of concern; and Identifies innovative and effective worker resilience programs that could potentially serve as models for relevant components of the DHS workforce. The report presents highlights from more than 20 hours of presentations and discussions from the two workshops, as well as the agendas and a complete listing of the speakers, panelists, and planning committee members.
