CERL Researcher selected for national response team

1 June 2006 -- CHAMPAIGN, Ill. -- Dr. Edgar D. Smith was chosen to serve on a national cadre for emergency and disaster response established by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. He is one of thirty Corps employees nation-wide named a local government liaison for this team. He will complete training and remain on standby status to deploy within hours after a disaster for thirty days or longer, acting as the Corps' liaison for state and local emergency operations centers. Smith is a research environmental engineer at the Engineer Research and Development Center's Construction Engineering Research Laboratory. His disaster response experience includes a month-long volunteer assignment in New Orleans in the aftermath of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita.