DC Fire & EMS Fire, Deputy Director of Health & Safety/Compliance Officer & U.S. Fire Administration National Fire Academy’s Executive Fire Officer Program
Bio
Katelynn Kapalo is an instructor for the U.S. Fire Administration National Fire Academy’s Executive Fire Officer program. She is the Senior Research Scientist/Assistant Director for the Western Fire Chiefs Association’s Applied Sciences Center for Resilience Studies. She has held multiple roles in academia and completed a postdoctoral appointment with Brown University, supporting the National Institute of Standards and Technology Public Safety Communications Research Division (NIST PSCR).
Dr. Kapalo previously worked in industry as a Research Statistician for Orange County Fire Rescue Department and as a Research Psychologist for the Naval Air Warfare Center Training Systems Division (NAWCTSD). Dr. Kapalo has supported large-scale (multi-billion-dollar) research and development programs focused on integrating augmented and virtual reality training capabilities for the U.S. Navy, U.S. Coast Guard, DARPA, and the U.S. Army. She serves as a technical panel member and principal investigator for efforts to integrate immersive learning and training simulation for firefighting and EMS. Kate was recently appointed to the International Association of Fire Fighters (IAFF) HazMat Advisory Board.
Kate earned her Ph.D. in Modeling and Simulation from the University of Central Florida. Her dissertation focused on leveraging emerging technologies to support fire ground incident command more effectively in pre-incident planning and community risk reduction efforts. Her work has been published and presented at national and international conferences.