Vincent Parisi has worked over 20 years for the U.S. Department of Homeland Security - FEMA in Chicago and is currently responsible for strengthening and integrating Region 5 preparedness efforts to prevent, protect against, respond to, and recover from terrorist attacks, major disasters, and other emergencies. He is a national expert on the Threat/Hazard Identification and Risk Assessment (THIRA) process and is the Region 5 program manager. Vincent also coordinates the FEMA Integration Team (FIT) program and supervises the Preparedness Specialist Team Leads in IL, IN, MI, and WI. Prior to his employment with FEMA, Vincent worked for the Illinois Department of Natural Resources, Office of Water Resources in floodplain management. He has also worked as an environmental consultant for Science Applications International Corporation and provided technical/policy support to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Region 5. Mr. Parisi was the FEMA Liaison to the International Committee of the International Association of Emergency Managers and has been a keynote speaker at numerous international conferences in Italy and France. Mr. Parisi has a Masters Degree in Water Resource Management from Duke University and a Bachelors Degree in Biological Sciences from Northwestern University. He also studied abroad at the University of Sussex in the U.K.