People
Department
Eric Turkington is a retired attorney living in Falmouth. He served 20 years in the Massachusetts House of Representatives from 1989 to 2009 representing Falmouth, Martha’s Vineyard and Nantucket. He served as chairman of the Joint Committee on Tourism, Arts, and Cultural Development. He was the lead sponsor of the Cape Cod Land Bank legislation, which provided $150 million for the Cape towns to acquire 4500 acres of protected open space. He was also the lead sponsor of legislation creating the Upper Cape Regional Water Supply Cooperative, which supplied drinking water to the four Upper Cape towns.
He is a founder and former president of the 300 Committee, Falmouth’s land trust, which has preserved 2600 acres of conservation land in Falmouth; former chairman and president of the Cape Cod United Way; founder and first chairman of the Falmouth Economic Development and Industrial Corporation; a corporator of Cape Cod Healthcare; and former Selectman of the town of Falmouth.
He currently serves as chairman of Falmouth’s Water Quality Management Committee; treasurer of the Falmouth Housing Corporation; board member of the Woods Hole Community Association; and board member of the Cape Cod Conservation District. He is a past recipient of the Falmouth Chamber of Commerce Citizen of the Year award and the Buzzards Bay Coalition’s Guardian Award. He lives in Woods Hole with his wife Nancy and dog Juneo.
Bachelor of Science in Marine Transportation, Mass Maritime Academy, 2000
USCG Unlimited Master
Professional experience includes working on supply boats for Tidewater Marine and on research vessels for the Scripps Institution of Oceanography.
Sailed as Third, Second, and Chief Mate on the TS Kennedy
- Bachelor of Arts in Political Science from Bridgewater State University
- Master of Arts in Political Science from University of Massachusetts, Amherst
- Ph.D. in Political Science from University of Connecticut
- Dr. Valla joined Massachusetts Maritime Academy's Emergency Management Department in 2016 after completing a career with the FBI as an intelligence analyst. During his tenure with the FBI, Dr. Valla provided intelligence analysis on most of the major terrorism investigations conducted by the FBI's Boston Field Office which included the 9/11 attacks and the Boston Marathon Bombing. Dr. Valla also served as a military intelligence officer with the U.S. Army Reserve and retired as a Major in 2004. His final assignment before retiring was as an instructor at the Joint Military Intelligence College - now the National Intelligence University. While there, he taught graduate courses in intelligence analysis, terrorism, and analytic methodology, as well as other national security topics.
- When not teaching, Dr. Valla enjoys running, hiking, working out, white-water rafting, and foreign language study. He is an avid science fiction fan. A lifelong resident of Massachusetts, he grew up in Kingston and now resides in Taunton.
University of Massachusetts Dartmouth, M.B.A. and B.S. Marketing
- Courses Taught:
- FM-5060: Legal & Regulatory Issues
- Education:
- J.D. Law, Suffolk University Law School, 1984
- M.S. Environmental Engineering and Applied Sciences, Harvard University, 1979
- B.S. Biology, Fordham University, 1974
- Experience:
- Previous to his position at Massachusetts Maritime Academy, he served as Environmental Counsel and Worldwide Director of the Environmental, Safety & Health Department for Sensata Technologies, Inc. (formerly Texas Instruments Incorporated, Sensors & Controls Group). He holds a law degree from Suffolk University and is admitted to practice before the Massachusetts Bar, Federal District Court and the U.S. Supreme Court. Professor Veale’s main interests have been involved in developing environmental infrastructure throughout the world and believes that industry, government, and academia play a vital role in the world environmental movement.
- Chairman of the International Environmental Law Committee for the Boston Bar Association
- Served as an Air Force Officer for over 24 years
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.
