Gene Longenecker

Background

About Gene Longenecker

Dr. Herbert E."Gene" Longenecker is natural hazards geographer and preeminent postdoctoral scholar at the University of Central Florida. Longenecker's research focuses on leveed floodplains, historical development, and disaster risk and vulnerabilities, with special focus on hazard mitigation, resilience, and equities. Dr. Longenecker was a senior physical scientist at FEMA and team leader of the Modeling Task Force, national modeling and data lead for disaster responses, manager of the national disaster analytics and regional earthquake programs, and coordinator of regional geospatial and remote sensing resource centers. He served in these roles through more than 35 Presidential Disaster Declarations and international disasters spanning earthquakes, tsunamis, tornadoes, floods, wildfires, winter storms, and hurricanes, from Katrina to Ike, Sandy, Harvey, and Maria. Dr. Longenecker's expertise in analytical and geospatial decision support guided top agency executives through extraordinary national crises, earning FEMA's top award for outstanding support to disaster survivors. He is a Certified Floodplain Manager (CFM), GIS Professional (GISP), and grant manager currently advising HUD CDBG disaster recovery and mitigation programs while researching hypsographic vulnerabilities to floods, inequities in disaster assistance and support needs, and heirs' property indicators for disaster planning, response, and recovery.