More than 100 representatives from states, Tribes and local health jurisdictions shared expertise in a two-day conference in Seattle
On September 9th and 10, 2025, the Northwest Center for Evidence-Based Public Health Emergency Preparedness and Response (NWPHEPR) and the Center for Disaster Resilient Communities (CDRC) hosted the inaugural Northwest Preparedness and Resilience Conference. The event brought together public health practitioners from across the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Region 10 — which is made up of Oregon, Washington, Idaho and Alaska — for an in-person gathering at the University of Washington’s Seattle campus. More than 100 participants attended, representing states, Tribes and local health jurisdictions.
The conference featured two keynote addresses. Tara Kirk Sell gave the first, “Rumor Has It: Communications in an Environment of Misinformation.” Dr. Sell is the Director of the Region 3 Center for Public Health Preparedness and Response, a Senior Scholar at the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security and Associate Professor in the Department of Environmental Health and Engineering at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. Her talk emphasized the importance of anticipating rumors during emergencies, noting that rumors often contain elements of truth and align with existing social narratives. She outlined four levels of intervention – information, individual, interpersonal and institutional — and stressed the value of building community connections in advance.
The second keynote, “How Indigenous Knowledge Shapes My Worldview,” was presented by Jackie Qataliña Schaeffer, Director of Climate Initiatives for the Alaska Native Tribal Health Consortium’s Division of Environmental Health & Engineering. She described Alaska’s unique challenges, including its vast geography, high concentration of Indigenous populations (40% of federally recognized Tribes are located in Alaska) and limited road infrastructure. Schaeffer highlighted climate threats such as increased precipitation, rising temperatures, stronger winds, sea ice loss and sea level rise, and emphasized the importance of communication and relationship-building in strengthening emergency preparedness and resilience.
The conference also included talks, poster presentations, communication breakout sessions, a panel on Public Health Emergency Preparedness and Response Workforce Capacity & Leadership and ample networking opportunities. Topics ranged from wildfire resilience strategies to frameworks for communicating extreme cold risk and preparing healthcare systems for large-scale events like the FIFA World Cup 2026. Special emphasis was placed on workforce development and communications.
Two interactive workshop sessions allowed participants to offer guidance regarding communications, the next focus area for NWPHEPR. The event concluded with a demonstration of the RAPID Facility Environmental Health Instrumentation.
Feedback from attendees was overwhelmingly positive. Ocean Mason, Communicable Disease Team Lead for Jefferson County Public Health, shared, “This was one of the most useful and connecting conferences I’ve been to in a long time. Having participants from so many different facets of public health preparedness and so many regions made for rich sharing of information. I particularly appreciated the orientation toward tribal preparedness and ways of knowing. As an emergency preparedness coordinator in a rural health department, I’m often working on my own trying to find better ways to prepare for my community. The sharing and knowledge at this conference helped me feel more connected.”
Photos from the event are available online.
The NWPHEPR is one of 10 new regional centers funded by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to collaborate with local, state and tribal health departments in using evidence-based strategies and interventions to enhance the region’s ability to prepare for and respond to public health threats. It is housed in the University of Washington Center for Disaster Resilient Communities.