Special Notices

The Energy Systems Resilience Program (ESRP)

The Energy Systems Resilience Program (ESRP) is a joint research and development program of West Virginia University (WVU), the West Virginia Department of Military Affairs and Public Safety (WV DMAPS), and the U.S Department of Energy’s National Energy Technology Laboratory (NETL).
The ESRP team is developing a pilot project for demonstrating advanced computer-based modeling and simulation of energy production systems (e.g., coal, gas, electricity, water) and their interdependent distribution infrastructures (e.g., transportation, telecommunications). The modeling and simulation will serve as the basis for building a toolkit to analyze and manage the effects of adverse events on West Virginia energy production and energy supply during times of crises. The toolkit provides the means of projecting those effects under a variety of conditions that range from doing nothing to intervening at various complexity levels of systems management. The toolkit is a combination of computer software, underlying energy production and distribution data, economic modeling, and management techniques for analyzing the occurrence and effects of adverse events like hurricanes, floods, wide-spread illness, or terrorist acts.
The lead project is the Regional Energy Systems Analysis Portal (RESAP) that provides the means for situational awareness of energy production and distribution within a geographic region. The portal is being designed to support high-level decision-makers for crisis event planning, response, and recovery.
The contact for additional ESRP/RESAP program information is Dr. Floyd (Rusty) Russell, Office of the Vice President for Research and Economic Development.

The Resilient Communities Research Consortium (RCRC)

The Resilient Communities Research Consortium (RCRC is a nationally-focused research and development collaboration led by West Virginia University (WVU). Partner institutions are Florida A&M University (FAMU), and the University of Pittsburgh (Pitt). RCRC is being developed in close consultation and coordination with the Naval Postgraduate School (NPS) and the U.S. Department of Energy’s National Energy Technology Laboratory (NETL). RCRC institutions contribute to the research subject matter expertise, geographical diversity, and ethnic diversity of the research teams. Projects leadership is distributed among the member institutions to reflect their disciplinary strengths in the Consortium research focus areas

The Consortium research agenda addresses community participation and resilience knowledge gap in these areas:

• Understanding how communities view themselves.


• Identifying barriers and incentives that are factors for community engagement in resilience building;


• Defining and developing effective tools for helping communities change resilience status;


• Understanding specific hazards and vulnerabilities that communities face;


• Understanding what the indicators of resilience are; and,


• Evaluating research-based approaches to outreach technical assistance programs for helping community establish and maintain resilience.

The contact for additional RCRC program information is Dr. Floyd (Rusty) Russell, Office of the Vice President for Research and Economic Development.

The Resilient Communities Initiative (RCI)

The Resilient Communities Initiative (RCI) is a West Virginia state-focused collaborative project that involves over 40 faculty and staff at West Virginia University and partner organizations in its development. The mission of the WVU Resilient Communities Initiative is conduct of multidisciplinary research, education, and technical assistance and outreach programs that support West Virginia emergency management for catastrophic events by improving the resilience of rural communities and small cities in the face of disruptive events. Work focuses in four specific areas:

• Socio-economic Systems in Rural Communities and Small Cities


• Infrastructure Systems


• Institutional/Governmental Systems


• Community Resilience Technical Assistance/Outreach

The focus areas also impact the economic viability of communities, and the project has economic development dual-use benefit for West Virginia communities.
Working with West Virginia Corridor H communities as a pilot program and demonstration area, the project team will develop a planning tool for assessing the resilience status of small cities and rural communities and develop a technical assistance and outreach program to improve their resilience status. The dual use economic development benefit (e.g., tourism, regional economy development) of resilience planning will be incorporated in the technical assistance and outreach program. Planning needs scenarios include a mass evacuation from the Washington DC area (National Capitol Region) and pandemic influenza affecting the region.

The contacts for additional RCI program information is Dr. Gerald Iwan, Director National Environment Services Center.

June 16th Research Seminar on WVU Resilience Research Initiatives and Participation Opportunities

Three research and development initiatives in development at WVU will be discussed on June 16th in a research seminar sponsored by the Regional Research Institute and three WVU resilience research initiatives. The location and time are 11:00 AM-1:00 PM in Room 162 of the WVU College of Law.

A light lunch will be served. Please RSVP by June 7th to Marje Riivald in the Office of the Vice President for Research and Economic Development.

The seminar is a discussion of the initiatives, their research approach, and R&D participation opportunities. The initiatives originated under an MOU (http://wvutoday.wvu.edu/n/2009/2/18/7518) among WVU, the U.S. Department of Energy’s National Energy Technology laboratory, and the West Virginia Department of Military Affairs and Public Safety.

The initiatives which address mission areas in the U.S. Department of Energy and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security are:

• The Energy Systems Resilience Program (ESRP)
• The Resilient Communities Research Consortium (RCRC), and
• The Resilient Communities Initiative (RCI)

Please see http://www.rri.wvu.edu/ for information about the Regional Research Institute.

For additional information about the seminar or the resilience initiatives, please contact Rusty Russell the Office of the Vice President for Research and Economic Development.

This information was prepared by:
Dr. Floyd (Rusty) Russell
Office of the Vice President for Research and Economic Development, West Virginia University
PO Box 6216
Morgantown, WV 26506
304.293.5037
304.293.7498 (FAX)