About me
Laurel Wood is the Director of UK’s Center for Disaster Recovery & Resilience. She began serving University of KY Police Department in 2011. Laurel oversees preparedness, operational disaster response, enterprise recovery and resilience, strategic planning, UK's 5-year Hazard Mitigation Plan, built the business continuity program, and established the UK Campus Community Emergency Response Team. Her career began serving Bluegrass Area Development District and then managed FEMA preparedness projects on behalf of the Commonwealth of KY, Office of the Governor, KY Office of Homeland Security before making the transition to UK 13 years ago. A KY native, Laurel is a graduate of Morehead State University with a bachelor's degree in government/Regional Analysis and Public Policy and holds a master's degree from UK Martin School of Public Policy & Administration. She is a FEMA Professional Continuity Practitioner and holds a National Center for Spectator Sports Safety & Security (NCS4) Professional Certificate from University of Southern Mississippi. Laurel is also a certified Project Management Professional (PMP) and is a member of Disaster Recovery Institute International (DRII). Laurel’s experience has also allowed her to be a consultant and subject matter expert for the US Department of Defense with the Defense Preparedness Support Initiative (DPSI) and with FEMA’s Terrorism and Catastrophic Events Preparedness Training Program. In 2017, some of Laurel’s work was featured in a publication by the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, “Strengthening the Disaster Resilience of the Academic Biomedical Research Community: Protecting the Nation’s Investment.”