Bridging the best of both response worlds, Dan brings real-world experience from the oil industry and the US Coast Guard to the EMSI cadre. While serving as an oil and gas emergency management specialist, he proudly served in the Coast Guard Reserves as an officer and Incident Command System expert.
Currently working for an American petroleum and natural gas exploration and production company, Dan has performed several critical roles related to incident management. In his current role, he is responsible for Crisis Management and HSSE Leadership and Development, where he manages the various plans and processes for this global company, and ensures that they leverage industry best practices for response, crisis, and continuity systems. As the Emergency Response Coordinator, Dan served as a qualified Incident Commander worldwide and created an emergency response framework that was implemented company-wide. His greatest feat was leading the implementation of Operational Excellence to forge an improved business culture that focused on safety, optimized operations, environmental compliance, aligned workforce, asset integrity, cost efficiencies, and a willingness to adapt to change.
Retiring as a Commander with over 25 years of service in the Coast Guard Reserve, Dan was activated numerous times to support major responses, including several of the most significant incidents in recent history: Deepwater Horizon; fuel barge DM932; Hurricanes Gustav and Katrina; and the Haitian earthquake. After the Deepwater Horizon incident, he was brought in to serve as the Deputy Incident Commander, directing and supervising the response efforts of 5,000+ responders across four states. When not deployed, Dan was the Coast Guard’s Gulf Coast Incident Management Team’s (IMT) Chief Liaison Officer, responsible for the management of Liaison Officers across five states and communicating federal response and policy guidance between federal, state, and local stakeholders. In this role, he additionally served as the liaison to the State of Louisiana and Governor Jindal.
Throughout his careers, Dan has instructed numerous courses in Incident Command and other emergency management courses at local, county, and state levels, as well as for federal agencies’ and private industry emergency response members. His expertise is well reflected in the litany of qualifications he holds, to include: Certified Emergency Manager (CEM), Master Exercise Planning Practitioner (MEP), Type 2 Incident Commander, National Type 1 Liaison Officer, Planning Section Chief, Certified Business Continuity Professional (CBCP), Certified FEMA Emergency Management Professional, Certified Homeland Security Exercise and Evaluation Program (HSEEP) instructor, Pollution Investigator, and Federal On-Scene Coordinator Representative.
Dan is currently enrolled in the SMU Cox School Executive Course. In addition, he holds a Master’s in Divinity/Theology from The Episcopal Theology Seminary of the Southwest and a Bachelor’s of Science in General Studies from Regents College.