Ray Shirkhodai, Executive Director
Mr. Shirkhodai is the Executive Director of Pacific Disaster Center (PDC). His professional experience in information management and senior leadership includes strategic planning, corporate governance, administration oversight, program development, budgeting, strategic Information Technology (IT) solution development and investment, and fostering strategic partnerships and new markets.Overall, he has over 20 years of experience in Information Systems including over 12 years of leadership, managing enterprise software product development/deployment, identifying key strategic solutions, integration implementation of large-scale projects, Information Systems architecture and planning, managing IT infrastructure and operations, network and communication systems analysis, Internet application development, and managing change and legacy system migration within the full Software Development Life Cycle (SDLC). He has extensive experience in cost-of-revenue analysis, change-control management, project management, object oriented system and database design, security definition, and requirement analysis. He joined PDC in January 2002 as Chief of Information Systems, and then served as Chief Operations Officer for more than three years before his appointment as Executive Director.
Mr. Shirkhodai earned a B.S. in Computer Science, 1990, at George Mason University, Fairfax, Virginia, and did graduate studies in Artificial Intelligence, 1993.
Chris Chiesa, Deputy Executive Director
Mr. Chiesa serves as the Deputy Executive Director of Pacific Disaster Center. During the past 10 years at PDC he has also held the roles of Director, Data and Information Resources Division, and Chief Information Officer. He has been responsible for establishment of PDC's Enterprise Geospatial Data Environment as well as the development of the Center's GIS-based "Global Hazards and Vulnerabilities Atlas" and the PDC-hosted DM geospatial information sharing service, the "Global Hazards Information Network." He is presently responsible for Center-wide operations and program development, as well as value-added information development activities at PDC. He has nearly 25 years experience developing and managing enterprise product and service applications of geospatial information technologies, and has been actively involved in disaster management activities in the Asia Pacific region for the past decade. He has extensive experience in the region including project-based activities in Vietnam, Thailand, Philippines, Taiwan, and Korea. He has also supported regional efforts of APEC's Emergency Preparedness Working Group. His work has also taken him to Europe, South America and Africa.Mr. Chiesa is active in regional and international professional associations, having served on the Board of Directors for the Hawaii Geographic Information Coordinating Council and presently as the Vice-Chair of the Navigators Council (aka Board of Director) for the Pacific Risk Management Ohana (PRiMO). He also serves on the International Advisory Board of Experts for The International Emergency Management Society's (TIEMS) Education Program.
His work has been widely recognized, and that recognition includes receiving both the Special Achievement in GIS Award by ESRI and the President's Award by HIGICC. He holds degrees from the University of Michigan (BSME, MSNR) and the University of Arizona (MBA).
Stanley Goosby, Chief Scientist
Mr. Stanley Goosby has been Chief Scientist for Pacific Disaster Center since 1996 and is a member of the Executive Management Team. From 1996 to 2001, he also served PDC as a Modeling Analyst and Manager for Applications Development. He has over 25 years of combined experience in earth-science disciplines related to disaster risk modeling, scenario development, risk analysis and natural hazard phenomenology. He has led and managed teams analyzing geophysical hazards and phenomena resulting from tsunamis, earthquakes, and volcanic activity in American Samoa, Vanuatu, Thailand and the Philippines. Additionally, Mr. Goosby has formulated and coordinated the application of the modeling resources to support the development of products simulating the impacts and consequences of hazards on communities and community resilience. He has also developed and implemented an integrated risk reduction framework to assess and mitigate the social, economic and infrastructure impacts of natural hazards on communities in the Pacific and Asia Pacific regions. He authored The Impacts of Disasters in the Asia Pacific Region for the First International Conference on Urban Disaster Reduction, 2005.Mr. Goosby earned a B.S. in Physics, 1978, from California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo; an M.S. in Physics, 1982, from Washington State University; and did additional graduate studies in advance signal process at the University of California, San Diego.
Vacant: Chief Technology Officer (Ray Shirkhodai, Acting CTO)
Scott Okada, Director of Finance & Administration
Mr. Okada is the Director of Finance and Administration for Pacific Disaster Center and a member of the Executive Management Team. He has substantial experience in fiscal planning and management and in all areas of budgeting, financial analysis, procurement and business information technology applications. He also has experience and training as a financial forecaster, auditor, tax-compliance officer and report compiler for national and governmental organizations. In previous employment, he also had high level oversight of human resources management and loss prevention as well as all cash management and cost control functions. He participated in a small group charged with the creation of multi-island information technology utilization plan. He has worked with the SEC, NASDAQ and government at various levels to advance and support innovative projects. His experience on the Real Property Tax Review Board has also added to his understanding of important facets of land-use and government-oversight responsibilities.Mr. Okada earned a B.A. in Accounting and Management Information Systems, 1985, and a M. B. A., 1996, at the University of Hawaii at Manoa.
Peter Colvin, Director of Humanitarian Assistance Programs
Mr. Colvin is the Director of Humanitarian Assistance Programs for Pacific Disaster Center and a member of the Executive Management Team. He is an international leader in the application of science and information technologies supporting the mitigation and response to natural and human-induced disasters. He also has over 23 years experience developing and applying remote sensing and geospatial information technology solutions to existing and emerging regional security and disaster management challenges. He has supported strategic planning and technology integration/transfer initiatives in the civil sector and Department of Defense. During his career he has held key roles in government, not-for-profit, and industry organizations. Over the past eight years, Mr. Colvin has worked with PDC in the capacity of Director of Data and Information Resources and Executive Director.Mr. Colvin has an M.S. in Applied Statistics and Remote Sensing from the University of Michigan's Rackham School of Graduate Studies.