I am thrilled to attend and present at the Extension Disaster Education Network’s (EDEN) 2025 Annual Conference, from October 21-24 in Portland, Maine, on behalf of the Verification of the Origins of Rotation in Tornadoes EXperiment-Southeast, or VORTEX-SE, Outreach and Engagement team. The event is hosted by the University of Maine Cooperative Extension and is a great opportunity to connect with other extension professionals, explore innovative outreach strategies, share resources and strengthen our collective capacity to prepare for, respond to and recover from disasters.
My oral presentation titled “Building Resilient Communities through Librarian-Led Outreach: A Train-the-Trainer Model for Weather Wise Curriculum Implementation," will highlight VORTEX-SE Outreach and Engagement's new Weather Wise Train-the-Trainer curriculum model. The southeastern United States faces distinct severe weather challenges, including frequent nocturnal tornadoes, a high density of mobile homes, significant forest coverage and a substantial population with limited access to safety and preparedness resources.
Since 2020, VORTEX-SE Outreach and Engagement has worked to address the region’s needs through outreach initiatives that focus on severe weather preparedness and resilience in Southeastern communities. Our Weather Wise severe weather preparedness workshops provide crucial information for communities to respond quickly and confidently to severe weather threats, enhancing their self-efficacy and resilience.
To significantly expand the reach of this vital information, we developed the Weather Wise Train-the-Trainer curriculum model. This model is a workshop-based approach that equips community volunteers, particularly librarians, to lead disaster preparedness programs in their own institutions and organizations as Weather Wise partners.
The first Weather Wise Train-the-Trainer curriculum workshop was in April 2025 at Jackson State University for the central library region of Mississippi, and we plan to host workshops for the four other library regions in the state. Librarians are great Weather Wise partners because they are trusted local educators, community connectors, skilled in information literacy, experienced in public engagement and uniquely positioned to deliver comprehensive, culturally responsive programming.
The Weather Wise Train-the-Trainer curriculum is a flexible, community-centered collection of customizable, hands-on, interactive and evidence-based lesson plans, available both digitally and physically.
By showcasing librarians as uniquely valuable disaster education partners, we will demonstrate to conference attendees how collaborating with them can significantly amplify our programs’ engagement. This principle applies to other community organizations and volunteers as well.
Also, our Weather Wise Train-the-Trainer model is tailored to address severe weather risks of the Southeastern U.S., the fundamental concept is scalable and transferable. It can be readily adapted to address localized hazards and community needs in other regions across the nation, making it a highly adaptable tool for cooperative extension networks everywhere.
If you are interested in hosting or partnering with VORTEX-SE Outreach and Engagement on a Train-the-Trainer workshop in your community, please contact me, Kristiana Allen, at 601-979-2103 or [email protected].
Meet the author
Kristiana Allen
Risk Communication and Learning Specialist
Kristiana Allen is a risk communication and learning specialist with the Mississippi-Alabama Sea Grant Consortium’s Education and Engagement Team. She also is a member of the NOAA National Severe... Read more
Phone: 601-979-2103
Email: [email protected]