Instructors

Daniel Casner

Biography : Fire Service background with current employment with CalOES/CSTI in the Haz-Mat Division as an Instructor II.

Kathryn Ann Dollarhide

Biography : Kathryn Ann Dollarhide RN, BSN, CEN, CEM® Kathy Dollarhide is the Director of the Dignity Health St. Mary Medical Center Disaster Resource Center Program. She is a Certified Emergency Manager via the International Association of Emergency Managers. She is a certified HAZMAT Instructor via CSTI teaches nationally and coordinates multiagency disaster drills in Long Beach, California. She has coordinated mass casualty multiagency drills and HAZMAT training for over 20 years. She has been instrumental in placing Stop the Bleed Tourniquet kits everywhere there is an AED in the City of Long Beach as a city wide initiative including training all agencies on tourniquets and Mass Casualty Incidents. She runs large scale drills at the airport, port and schools on active shooter and chemical releases including CHEMPACK trainings. Kathy has been a training nurse for the LA FBI Swat Team in advanced airway and active shooter drills and runs table top exercises for Federal and private agencies on Burn/Trauma Surge/MCI and HAZMAT. She is an instructor and drill coordinator working with the California Border Protection and has been instrumental in coordinating Rescue Task Forces with Long Beach Fire Department and Long Beach Police Department in large scale community drills. For the past 15 years she has coordinated multiagency drills at the Long Beach Airport, Port of Long Beach, Port of Los Angeles as well as in 2018 a large scale Terrorist attack at the Carnival Cruise Terminal in Long Beach. She coordinates active shooter drills at all of the local universities. Kathy has been an civilian instructor for the Combat Care Casualty Courses teaching the Trauma Nursing Core Course, Combat Casualty as well has been a training officer for the Defense Medical Readiness Training Institute (DMRTI) for the Department of Defense at Fort Sam Houston. Prior to St. Mary Medical Center she was the Emergency Preparedness Consultant at the Harbor-UCLA Medical Center Disaster Resource Center, the American Heart Association Community Training Coordinator and has been an ER nurse for 30 years. Her greatest accomplishments in life are her two children Kiely and Jeremy who are both in nursing school becoming ER/trauma nurses.

David Donohue

Biography : Dave Donohue, MA, EFO, MEP, EMT-P recently retired from the National Fire Academy, has over 40 years of emergency response experience at the local and national level .and has served on local, regional, and national incident management teams He currently resides and serves as a responder near Hagerstown MD. He can be reached at [email protected].

Michael Hammett

Biography : Sergeant Michael Hammett is a 29-year veteran of the Los Angeles Police Department. During his tenure he has worked a variety of assignments which include over 17 years of field related work. Sergeant Hammett has worked in the capacity of a Field Training Officer, a Senior Lead Officer working with the community, a field supervisor, and the Sergeant in charge of the Foothill Gang Enforcement Detail. After leaving field related assignments Sergeant Hammett was assigned to the Emergency Management Section of the Los Angeles Police Department as the Officer in Charge of the Emergency Preparedness Unit. Some of his assignments during this time included being Involved with the Department’s preparedness and readiness for major events and disasters. As such he was involved with overseeing the authoring and updating of the Department’s Continuity of Operations Plan, the Departments Emergency Plan and the Department’s Seasonal Pandemic and Influenza plan, and becoming an ICS/NIMS instructor for the Department, among others. This experience proved helpful in 2020 when Sergeant Hammett assumed the role of the Department’s COVID-19 Logistics Section Chief during the EOC and DOC’s level 1 activation for the pandemic. This assignment continued throughout the civil unrest during the Summer of 2020 and then reverted back to the COVID 19 activation. Sergeant Hammett is currently the Officer in Charge of the Los Angeles Police Department’s Hazardous Materials Unit. The LAPD’s Hazardous Materials Unit is a part of the Joint Hazards Assessment Team (JHAT) for the Los Angeles Region, working alongside their partners in the LAFD and the Los Angeles County Public Health Department, as well as Sergeant Hammett’s counterpart at the FBI. He has been involved with the planning of the 2023 Super Bowl in Los Angeles, as well as the upcoming 2027 Super Bowl coming back to Los Angeles. His involvement included the planning for prevention and mitigation as it pertains to possible threats of WMDs that might be involved or introduced to any of the venues that used in the Los Angeles area for the weeklong NFL Experience, the upcoming FIFA World Cup and the 2028 Olympic Summer Games in Los Angeles.

Daniel Keenan

Biography : Dan Keenan has been a firefighter and Hazardous Materials Specialist/responder for the Oakland Fire Department, Oakland, CA since 1991, and retired after 30 years. He is certified by CSTI (California Specialized Training Institute) as a Hazardous Materials Instructor for the entire Technician/Specialist curriculum. Dan felt a need to promote hazardous materials training with the use of chemical demonstrations, and this interest fueled the development of his course called “Fun With Chemistry” filmed at the Continuing Challenge Workshop for which Dan received the James H. Meidl “Instructor of the Year” Award in 1999 – sponsored by CA State Fire Marshall, with his co-instructor, Maria Duazo. Dan was a Faculty Member in the Fire Service Technology Department for Chabot Community College, Hayward, CA, where he taught the course “Fundamentals of Fire Protection Chemistry”- Physical &Chemical characteristics of matter and fire. Dan received his formal Chemistry education from the University of Rochester, New York. Dan is a consultant to HazTech Systems Inc., manufacturer of the HazCat Kit ®. He has been teaching “Field Identification of Unknowns” classes for over twenty-five years and was featured in the American Chemical Society’s “What Chemists Do” Video series: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4CWy2R23qlI He has made use of his experience and expertise to teach Advanced Field Identification of Unknown Hazardous Substances to federal EPA On-Scene-Coordinators at their Nationwide Training conference, and is called upon to teach Field Identification of Unknowns during CSTI’s Technical Reference Specialist Course. Dan was a consultant with Davis Defense Group where he taught response to Chemical Warfare Agent laboratories to the CST’s. He is also a consultant for the Industrial Emergency Council and has taught countless “Basic Chemistry” and “Applied Chemistry” courses, each a 40-hour curriculum, to responders throughout the State of California. Dan has been a member of the Environmental Crimes Investigator’s Association and has taught a course called “Practical Chemistry for Environmental Investigators & Field Officers” to several Environmental Crimes Task Forces including San Diego, Imperial County and has put on seminars at the annual CHMIA conference. In 2018 Dan was awarded the William J. Patterson Lifetime Achievement Award. This award is presented to the individual who has dedicated a “lifetime” of commitment and sacrifice in creating and/or promoting innovations and achievements in hazardous materials response, management and/or leadership

George Lane

Biography : George Lane is Hazmat instructor for Emergency Response Technology in Baton Rouge Louisiana. Lane's proposal for a hazmat course for the 2026 Hazardous Materials Emergency Response Workshop in Sacramento, "Case Study: Chemical Security to Protect Critical Infrastructure using FTIR (Fourier Transform Infrared) Spectroscopy", teaches the use of standoff chemical-specific detectors using FTIR to mitigate risk. Lane's previous hazmat course development and instruction was funded by the California Office of Emergency Services (OES) in 2018 to mitigate detection gaps in chemical security at deepwater ports in California using CBRNE detectors. Lane received his MS in Chemistry in 2012 from Tulane University as Air Quality SME for the Deepwater Horizon Study Group during the BP Oil Spill; received his MS in Chemistry in 2000 from Southern University in Baton Rouge as a NASA Fellow at the Stennis Space Center; and received his BS in Chemical engineering in 1970 from LSU in Baton Rouge. Lane has 30 years of cumulative experience in chemical security instruction education at the University of California at Berkeley, Tulane University in New Orleans, the University of Georgia at Griffin, Southern University and LSU in Baton Rouge, and Emergency Response Technology in Baton Rouge. A project in which Lane taught chemistry online to minimize risks from transportation of hazmat chemicals was the "Regional Fenceline Monitoring" (RFLM) project in Louisiana. RFLM was selected “Best Rail Yard Chemical Monitoring and Detection” and “Best Integration of Cameras, Sensors, and Communications for Rail Safety” hazmat course by Government Security News (GSN) in 2017 to provide protection with FTIR standoff chemical detection for rail safety; “Louisiana protects children with standoff chemical detection", GSN, 2017, pgs 1, 6-9, www.yumpu.com/en/document/read/56793041/government-security-news-january-2017-digital-edition

Ejan Petrie

Biography : An EPA On-Scene Coordinator in the San Francisco Bay Area, this expert manages emergency responses to hazardous releases and oil spills, coordinating multi-agency strategies and community outreach. Previously, as a Senior Enforcement Officer at the EPA, they focused on FIFRA and TSCA, conducting high-profile inspections, securing penalties for illegal pesticide sales, and training federal and state partners. Seasoned hazardous materials safety professional with over 12 years of experience applying and shaping the DOT Hazardous Materials Regulations (HMR; 49 CFR 171–180) across the aviation and maritime hazardous materials safety sectors. At FAA's Office of Hazardous Materials Safety, they led planning, development, implementation, and operational policy for the safe air transport of dangerous goods; coordinated with PHMSA to maintain and revise the HMR and aligned related Federal Aviation Regulations; advised the ICAO Dangerous Goods Panel and the UN Subcommittee of Experts; drafted U.S. positions and safety communications (SAFOs, Advisory Circulars, iNFOs), and advanced interagency guidance and MOUs. As an FAA Special Agent, they conducted inspections of air carriers and shippers, investigated violations under the Hazardous Materials Transportation Authorization Act, developed evidence-based enforcement case packages, initiated civil actions, and supported criminal investigations with DOT‑OIG. In the U.S. Coast Guard, they served as a Marine Environmental and Hazardous Materials Inspector enforcing HMTAA, the International Safe Container Act, and the IMDG Code at port facilities and aboard commercial vessels; led Coast Guard container inspection operations, oversaw the safe loading of 1.5 million pounds of explosives, issued Captain of the Port Orders, and coordinated multiagency responses to oil and hazardous materials incidents. Across roles, they have combined rulemaking and international harmonization expertise with hands-on inspection, investigation, and outreach to strengthen national compliance with the DOT hazmat regulations.

Frank Roberts

Biography : Frank Roberts has 8 years of Hazardous Materials and CBRN(E) experience, along with 10 years of service in the United States Marine Corps. Frank began his background in HazMat/CBRN(E) in 2015, when he was assigned to the Chemical Biological Incident Response Force (CBIRF), the Marine Corps’ premier CBRN(E) response unit, providing support for Presidential events in the National Capitol Region, Republican and Democratic National Conventions, State Funeral for Former President H.W. Bush, and State of the Union Addresses. Frank continued his education in HazMat/CBRN(E), attending advanced technical courses for decontamination, search and extraction, and identification and detection. Frank also holds an undergraduate Emergency Disaster Management degree with American Military University.

Rob Scott

Biography : I have been in the propane industry for the past 42 years. I have been involved in all different aspects of the industry from training new employees to regulatory liaison. For eleven years I worked in the ASME, DOT cargo tank manufacturing industry. Currently I serve as the consultant to the Western Propane Gas Association on hazardous material issues. I am also an instructor for certified employee training for the Western Propane Gas Association, as well as an instructor for the propane transportation emergency response program. I am an instructor for the California Dept. of Forestry propane fire safety training class. I am a member of U.S. DOT (COHMED) group this is a cooperative effort between DOT enforcement and industry on hazardous material issues and also serves as a cargo tank instructor for the Transportation Safety Institute. I have also written risk management programs for compliance with the clean air act 112 (r) of the US EPA and Fire Safety analysis.

Shannon Serre

Biography : Shannon Serre started with the EPA in 1998 in the National Risk Management Research Laboratory where he studied the control of pollutants from coal-fired utilities. Shannon joined EPA’s National Homeland Security Research Center (NHSRC) in 2007 where he was the assistant program manager for NHSRC’s Technology Testing and Evaluation Program. Shannon is currently with the EPA’s Office of Emergency Management working in the CBRN Consequence Management Advisory Division. He is focused on the response and recovery from a chemical, biological or radiological incident. He has been involved in several field scale projects including: the Bio-response Operational Testing and Evaluation (BOTE) project, Underground Transport Restoration (UTR) project, Operational Testing and Evaluation of Chemical Remediation Technologies (OTECRA) and is now involved with the Analysis for Coastal Operational Recovery (AnCOR) project. The AnCOR project is focused on the restoration of a USCG facility or asset that has been contaminated with a biological agent. Shannon has a PhD in Chemical Engineering from the University of Utah.

Daniel Talbot

Biography : Daniel Talbot served 33 years with Cal Fire in the Riverside Unit and retired as a Deputy Chief in November of 2018. From 1990 to 1996, Chief Talbot served as a Fire Captain/HM Specialist on the Cal Fire/Riverside County Hazardous Materials Response Team. During his tenure with the Team, Chief Talbot responded to more than 600 hazardous materials emergencies. Concurrently with his time on the Hazardous Materials Team, Chief Talbot was a member of the FIRESCOPE Hazardous Materials Specialist Group. During his tenure with the Hazardous Materials Specialist Group, Chief Talbot participated in the development of the position manuals for the Hazardous Materials Module of the Incident Command System. As a Chief Officer, Chief Talbot responded to several significant hazardous materials incidents, serving as the Incident Commander. Currently, Chief Talbot is an Adjunct Instructor at Moreno Valley College's School of Public Safety. Chief Daniel teaches Hazardous Materials Incident Commander, ICS 300, ICS 400, and the CSFM course, Incident Management of High-Rise Fires. In 2023, Chief Talbot participated in a multiagency group to develop the course Wide-Rise Fire Operations for the Riverside County Fire Chiefs' Association

Richard Thompson

Biography : Richard Thompson has dedicated 19 years to the fire service, demonstrating unwavering commitment and expertise in public safety and emergency management. Currently serving as a Fire Captain II with the Los Angeles Fire Department, Richard plays a critical role in specialized operations. He is the Program Coordinator for the HazMat/CBRNE/JHAT Section, overseeing hazardous materials response, chemical, biological, radiological, nuclear, and explosive (CBRNE) operations, as well as the Joint Hazard Assessment Team (JHAT). In addition to these responsibilities, Richard is the Program Coordinator for the department's Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS) program. In this capacity, he spearheads innovative solutions, leveraging technology to enhance operational safety, efficiency, and effectiveness in emergency response scenarios. Richard’s leadership and expertise in highly technical and specialized areas of fire service make him an invaluable asset to the department and the communities he serves.

Jeremy VanAuker

Biography : Jeremy VanAuker is the Field Forensic Application Scientist for 908 Devices. He earned both his Master and Bachelor of Science degrees in Chemistry from Pittsburg State University in Pittsburg, Kansas and is currently working on his Master of Business Administration from the University of Texas at Dallas. After earning his B.S., he briefly worked at an explosives manufacturing facility as a Laboratory Chemist. He then worked as firefighter/EMT-basic in Joplin, Missouri for almost five years specializing in hazardous material response and technical rescue. Before joining 908 Devices, Jeremy was a Forensic Drug Chemist II for almost nine years with the Southwestern Institute of Forensic Sciences in Dallas, Texas where he analyzed unknown materials for the presence or absence of controlled substances.

Nick Vent

Biography : Nick Vent retired after 28yrs as a Supervising Environmental Health Specialist with the County of San Diego. He managed the County of San Diego’s Hazardous Incident Response Team (HIRT), which responds to all hazardous chemical releases in a jurisdiction of 4200 square miles with 18 cities. Mr. Vent is a nationally recognized and award winning, state certified hazardous materials response instructor with 40 plus years’ experience training and certifying fire, law enforcement, and environmental professionals who respond to chemical emergencies. He currently is conducting Hazmat classes around the country, US Territories and even Europe. He has taught various environmental health courses at colleges in California and around the country. He holds degrees in Environmental and Occupational Health and Chemistry. But most he loves to traveling the world and meeting people.

Chris Weber

Biography : Dr. Chris Weber is the President/CEO of Dr. Hazmat, Inc. which specializes in hazardous materials training and consulting for emergency responders, the military, and industry. His experience includes serving on the Washtenaw County (Michigan) Hazardous Materials Response Team for over a decade in positions that include hazmat technician, training officer, and deputy director. He also served as a member of the Longmont (Colorado) Fire Department Hazmat Team for seven years as a SME and hazmat specialist. He has been a firefighter for over 35 years and is currently a member of the Hygiene Fire Protection District. He has extensive experience involving hazardous materials chemistry, including a Ph.D. in cellular and molecular biology and biological chemistry from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. Chris has authored the following books: Pocket Reference for Hazardous Materials Response; Hazardous Materials Operations (textbook); and Hazardous Materials Technician (textbook) and is a regular speaker at emergency response conferences around the world. He can be reached at [email protected].

Philip White

Biography : Fire Chief Philip White Ret. has over 30 years of experience in the fire service where he served in multiple capacities the last of which was 10 years as the fire chief for the City of San Francisco. As a a member of Urban Search and Rescue Task Force-3 (Menlo Park), he deployed to Hurricane Iniki, Northridge Earthquake, The World Trade Center and Hurricane Katrina. Chief White has also served as a consultant to local, state and the federal governments, private industry and special operations groups both domestically and overseas. Issues he has worked on as a consultant have included, regulatory compliance, workplace safety, CBRNE, emergency management and response. Throughout his career Chief White has also been an avid instructor. Some of the topics he has been asked to teach include, use of the incident command system, response to hazardous materials incidents, technical rescue, confined space rescue, swift water/flood rescue and other similar topics of interest to first responders. Most recently, Chief White has been asked to design and administer regional, multi-disciplinary land and maritime based full-scale exercises that have been based on complex coordinated terrorist attacks, detonation of radiation dispersal devices (RDD's) and improvised nuclear devices (IND's).

Reginald Woodard DeCavalcante

Biography : I’m a second generation firefighter my father retired with the California State Fire Department in Poterville CA DDS Departments within the state organization. I started my journey with the City of Suisun Fire Department as a firefighter and acting higher rank. More so, I joined CDF in Morgan Hill California-Santa Clara Unit. Made the quantum leap with continued service with CAL FIRE-San Bernadino Unit, and continued service with CAL FIRE-Fresno Kings Unit. I continued as firefighter/ Drive Operator with the City of Jeanerette Volunteer Fire. I enjoy community focus in with the community; and have a deep seated desire to save live and serve.