Dr. Samantha Montano is currently an associate professor of Emergency Management at the Academy. Montano does research on a variety of topics related to emergency management including disaster volunteerism, the role of the nonprofit sector in disaster, the relationship between emergency management and climate change, and the intersection of gender and disasters. In addition to research, she does science communication work and emergency management policy advocacy.
Current courses: Introduction to Emergency Management and Emergency Management Policy
LCDR Ed Pinero joined MMA in January 2011 as Assistant Director for Student Services and assigned as 6th Company Officer. His assignments include Director for Orientation, Coordinator for MMA’s Intramural Program and Sea Term’s
Terminal Operations. Ed also dedicated 3 years as Assistant Coach for MMA’s football program.
Prior to MMA, Ed was the Director of Transportation for Transpro LLC, Malden, MA. Transpro LLC is a statewide transportation company with 14 Regional Operation Centers throughout Massachusetts.
Ed is a 2011 graduate of CONNECT, Southeastern Massachusetts Public Higher Education Collaborative Leadership Development Program, holds a B.A. in Secondary Education from the University of Puerto Rico, a commission as a US Army Officer from the ROTC (Reserve Officer Training Program) and is a graduate of the Army’s Combined Armed Services Staff School- Command and General Staff College. He retired as an Army Transportation Officer with 20 years of service in October 2003.
Ed has over 30 years of transportation experience both in the US Army, as a Transportation Officer, and in the private sector where he held various management positions in transportation and distribution with Target Inc., Pier 1 Imports Inc., Office Depot Inc., and CVS pharmacy in California and Rhode Island.
During his 20 years as an Army Officer, he served in the Transportation Corp, “The Spearhead of Logistics”. Ed’s responsibilities included the planning, directing and executing of US Department of Defense (DoD) and Foreign military operations worldwide involving the use of all modes of transportation to include rail, water, air, and surface. As a young Captain, was selected for command of the 368thTransportation Terminal Service Company in Ft. Story, Virginia Beach where he received numerous accolades for his units’ participation and performance during DoD exercises in Honduras, Turkey, Hawaii, Philippines, Korea, and Japan. During Operations Desert Shield & Desert Storm in the early 90’s, Ed served as Transportation Advisor to the state of Arizona’s Army National Guard and US Army Reserve transportation units deploying to and from Southwest Asia.
A native of San Juan, Puerto Rico and resident of Centerville, MA, where he lives with his wife Julie Ann. Ed has 3 children; Eddie (30), Ali (26), and Michael (24).
B.A., Bridgewater State College Political Science and History; M.A., University of Massachusetts/Amherst, Political Science; Ph.D., University of Connecticut, Political Science, Retired US Army Reserve, Major, Retired Federal Bureau of Investigation Intelligence officer; Research Interests-Domestic and International Terrorism, and Violence in American society
A baptized non-denominational Christian
Bachelor of Science in Electronic Engineering from Fudan University, Shanghai, China
Bachelor of Arts (Honors) in Applied Disaster and Emergency Studies from Brandon University, Brandon, Manitoba, Canada
Master of Science in Disaster Science and Management from University of Delaware, Newark, Delaware
Ph.D. in Civil Engineering with direction of Societal Risk Management from University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign, Urbana, Illinois
Postdoc at Jackson State University, Jackson, Mississippi; University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, North Carolina; and Chapman University, Orange, California
Dr. Wang is currently serving as an Assistant Professor of Emergency Management at the Academy. His research topics include social vulnerability, hazard modeling, risk assessment, loss prediction, equivalency of hazard intensity, nowcasting of weather events, and media coverage of disasters. His methodological tools involve data science, machine learning, geographic information science, remote sensing, and qualitative approaches. Dr. Wang has been working on earthquake, flood, heavy rainfall, lightning, tropical cyclone, wildfire, and extraterrestrial hazard; as well as disaster risks within a multi-hazard context.
