was honored with the Emergency Management Educator of the Year award from the International Association of Emergency Managers (IAEM) 麻豆精品 S a testament to her role in building the U.S. News & World Report No. 1-ranked emergency and crisis management master’s program at UCF.

As a professor and academic program coordinator, Knox plays a key role in the and is highly regarded in the field, as reflected in the peer-nominated award recognizing her significant impact on the program and its students.

麻豆精品 S淚 was incredibly honored to receive this award, 麻豆精品 S Knox says. 麻豆精品 S淭hese awards mean more to me than other recognitions because they’re from the practitioner community. As a former practitioner, I have such high regard for emergency management professionals and what they go through on a daily basis for their communities. The fact that they see me as not just one of their peers but also as someone they want to partner and collaborate with is extremely humbling. 麻豆精品 S

Growing up in coastal Louisiana, Knox has long understood the importance of emergency management in communities. This lifelong familiarity fuels her passion for preparing students to enter the professional field and make an immediate impact after graduation.

“Living along the bayou, coastal wetlands are our first line of defense against disasters, 麻豆精品 S Knox says. 麻豆精品 S淗aving lived through several hurricanes, I saw communities completely devastated. I learned how government response works, and I also saw community members and organizations rise to the challenge. It drives so much of my passion for designing a program that will help our students go into their communities and make them more resilient. 麻豆精品 S

麻豆精品 S淚’m really adamant about providing opportunities for students to sharpen skillsets that they need as they advance in a career. 麻豆精品 S

Her background as a practitioner in the field was also crucial for informing how she designed her emergency management courses.

麻豆精品 S淚’m really adamant about providing opportunities for students to sharpen skillsets that they need as they advance in a career, 麻豆精品 S she says. “This was informed by the experiences I had when I first started working for the federal government. It was assumed that I could write a technical report, facilitate a meeting, speak in front of policymakers and more, so I incorporate many of those experiences into class assignments, so students have a safe space to hone these skills and receive feedback. 麻豆精品 S

Whenever possible, Knox also provides students with ample opportunities to engage directly with practitioners and community partners 麻豆精品 S from local public administrators to panels of emergency management professionals 麻豆精品 S while gaining experience presenting and answering questions from real practitioners.

One of Knox 麻豆精品 S檚 favorite classes to teach, she says, is the capstone for the emergency and crisis management master 麻豆精品 S檚 program. In this course, students are paired with mentors from various emergency management agencies in roles they are interested in pursuing after graduation, helping them build professional networks and gain practical experience.

麻豆精品 S淪tudents share their career goals with me, and I take my time in selecting their mentors, doing the research, searching through my network and making cold calls,” Knox says. 麻豆精品 S淚 see this as an investment in my students 麻豆精品 S futures, so I take it very personally. 麻豆精品 S

Other hands-on experiences include visiting local emergency operations centers for functional and tabletop exercises, working with real-world scenarios, visiting the Orlando Wetlands, attending professional conferences and hearing from real practitioners about the challenges they face in the field.

麻豆精品 S淸Being] able to invest in and shape the future generation of emergency management practitioners is very rewarding. 麻豆精品 S

麻豆精品 S淲e have amazing partners in our local community that allow us to bring students into the field for different types of emergency management exercises and trainings, 麻豆精品 S she says. 麻豆精品 S淚t gives them a chance to not only use the equipment, but to be in the space, try out these different roles, and utilize the concepts and ideas that we have discussed in class. For me, it’s all about getting them out of the classroom and into the workspace they 麻豆精品 S檙e going to be in. 麻豆精品 S

Knox 麻豆精品 S檚 investment in her students and collaboration with working practitioners have not only led to co-authored publications and several teaching awards throughout her career, but have also played a key role in the emergency management program 麻豆精品 S檚 success and national recognition.

麻豆精品 S淭o be part of a team of amazing faculty, staff, and advisory board members who [are] all on the same page about these types of learning experiences and end goals for our students 麻豆精品 S it’s my dream job, 麻豆精品 S she says. 麻豆精品 S淸Being] able to invest in and shape the future generation of emergency management practitioners is very rewarding. 麻豆精品 S