Meet Your Conference Host
Fire Chief Jack “J.” Taylor
Jack “J.” Taylor has served as Fire Chief of the Pearland Fire Department since May 2022. A 33-year veteran of the fire service, Taylor previously led the Town of Trophy Club, TX, as Fire Chief and served the City of Irving, TX, for 25 years—rising through the ranks to the role of Assistant Chief before retiring.
At the Pearland Fire Department, Chief Taylor’s leadership centers on mastering “back-to-the-basics” training, reinforced with “smartly aggressive” fireground tactics. PFD is a progressive, all-hazards department delivering advanced life support (ALS) EMS with full transport capabilities. The department serves a rapidly growing city of more than 145,000 residents and covers a total response area of nearly 160,000, including extraterritorial jurisdictions within Brazoria County.
In addition to his fire service career, Taylor is a professional actor, published author, and accomplished speaker. His screen credits include appearances in major TV and film projects such as Breaking Bad, Prison Break, Friday Night Lights, and My All American. He also enjoyed a distinguished 20-year tenure as an NCAA Division I football official, retiring from the Southeastern Conference after 20 consecutive postseason assignments. His final officiating appearance was the 2018 College Football Playoff National Semifinal between Clemson and Notre Dame.
Chief Taylor currently serves as 3rd Vice President of the Texas Fire Chiefs Association and is set to serve as TFCA President in 2028. He holds numerous fire and EMS certifications and earned a Master of Science degree in Organizational Leadership. He and his wife, Staci, reside in Pearland and are the proud parents of two grown sons, Jack and Nick.
Meet Your Speakers
Firefighter Eduardo “Eddy” Liceaga
Keynote Speaker
Eduardo “Eddy” Liceaga is a Firefighter/EMT-B with the Pearland Fire Department, bringing over a decade of experience and a deep commitment to service. He holds multiple fire certifications and has been honored with a lifesaving award for his actions in the line of duty.
Firefighter Liceaga began his career in 2015 with the Southeast Volunteer Fire Department. In 2018, he joined the Houston Fire Department, and in 2020, transitioned to the Pearland Fire Department, where he continues to serve with distinction.
Currently assigned to Pearland Fire Department’s Administration Building, Firefighter Liceaga is undergoing rehabilitation following a significant on-the-job injury sustained in October 2023. Despite this challenge, he remains actively engaged in departmental initiatives. He serves on the Recruiting Committee and the Training Division, where he plays a vital role as the new hire liaison—mentoring incoming firefighters and fostering a culture of support and professionalism.
A proud Houston native, Firefighter Liceaga graduated from Pasadena Memorial High School and attended San Jacinto College before earning his Texas Commission on Fire Protection certification through the Houston Fire Department Academy in 2018.
Outside of his professional life, Firefighter Liceaga resides in Pasadena and enjoys playing a variety of musical instruments—including the violin, bass, and guitar. He’s passionate about grilling, exploring the outdoors, discovering new cuisines, and playing video games. Above all, he cherishes time spent with his wife Allison and their son, Eduardo IV.
Firefighter Liceaga’s journey reflects resilience, leadership, and a deep dedication to both his family and his fire service community. His story is a testament to the strength found in recovery, mentorship, and purpose-driven service.
Dr. Daniel R. Altman
Effective Psychological Fitness for Duty Evaluations in Fire Services
Effective Psychological Pre-Employment Evaluations in Fire Services
Daniel R. Altman, Ph.D., has worked in psychology for over twenty years, after earning his doctorate in Counseling Psychology from Texas A&M University.
After years of working in various correctional environments (e.g., Bureau of Prisons, Dallas County Juvenile Department), he began working in private practice in 2010, specializing in forensic psychology and police and public safety psychology.
Currently, he practices in Arlington, Texas, where he provides pre-employment evaluations, psychological fitness for duty evaluations, and other related services to various public safety departments in the Dallas-Fort Worth area, including Arlington PD, Arlington FD, McKinney PD, McKinney FD, Frisco PD, Frisco FD, and several other departments. Additionally, he provides psychological fitness for duty evaluations for various corporations who operate in the DFW area, including Amazon, UPS, and FedEx.
Dr. Burton A. Clark, Ed. D., EFO
Fire Service Seatbelt Use: A 20-Year Case Study (Co-presenting with Chief Jason Mays)
Burton “Burt” Clark has been in the fire service for 50 years and counting! He started his career a firefighter in Washington, DC, and his career path took to Prince George’s County (Mary.), and Carroll County (Mary.),
His other fire service roles have included Assistant Fire Chief in Laurel, Maryland, the Management Science Program Chair and Executive Fire Officer Research Advisor at the National Fire Academy, an Operations Chief during national disasters and emergencies for the DHS/FEMA, an Instructor Trainer for the University of Maryland Fire Rescue Institute.
Dr. Clark is an Expert Technical Reviewer for the CDC National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, Fire Fighter Fatality Investigation and Prevention Program, and a visiting scholar at Johns Hopkins University Center for Injury Research and Policy.
He serves on the doctoral research faculty at Oklahoma State, Benedictine, Northern Illinois, Grand Canyon, and Fielding Universities. In addition, he conducts lectures, workshops, and strategic planning for various educational and governmental organizations.
Burt has a BS is in Business Administration from Strayer University, MA in Curriculum & Instruction from Catholic University, and Ed.D. in Adult Education from Nova Southeastern University. He has served on 17 doctoral dissertation committees. He studied fire science at Montgomery College with Professor Frank Brannigan, Emergency Management at the Emergency Management Institute, National Security at the National Defense University, and is a graduate of the National Fire Academy Executive Fire Officer Program.
He is a nationally certified Fire Officer Four, Chief Fire Officer Designee for nine years, and Eagle Scout Mentor. Burt writes, lectures, and teaches fire service research, safety, culture, and professional development worldwide.
His first book is titled, I Can’t Save You, And I Don’t Want to Die Trying: The American Fire Culture.
Fire Chief Jason Mays, Amarillo (Tex.) Fire Department
Fire Service Seatbelt Use: A 20-Year Case Study (Co-presenting with Dr. Burton Clark)
Jason Mays has served the citizens of Amarillo for 26 years, the last five as the Fire Chief. He holds a bachelor’s degree in fire science and fire administration, and a master’s in organizational leadership/public administration.
Chief Mays also holds advanced certifications, including those of Chief Fire Officer, Fire Officer IV, Certified Fire Executive, and Fire Service Chief Executive Officer.
Throughout his career, he has served in key leadership roles focused on training, safety, and operations. As Fire Chief, Mays is committed to developing personnel, advancing mental health support for first responders, and ensuring the department meets the needs of a growing and diverse community.
Dr. Ben Bernstein, Ph.D
Stress Reduction for Mental Health Practitioners Serving Firefighters
Dr. Ben Bernstein is a performance psychologist and educator with over 50 years of experience training people to perform under pressure. His clients include emergency medical personnel, professional athletes, military veterans, and professionals in high-stakes environments where stress can compromise judgment, reaction time, and overall well-being.
Known for his practical, science-based approach, Dr. Bernstein teaches a method grounded in calm, confidence, and focus—the three essential components of optimal performance. His tools integrate body, mind, and spirit to reduce stress on the spot, build lasting resilience, and support peak functioning in unpredictable, high-pressure situations. He trains caregivers and coaches nationwide in a tiered certification program for professionals seeking to apply his methods in their work with clients and teams.
“Dr. B” is the author of “Crush Your Test Anxiety” and “Stressed Out! for Parents,” and his upcoming book, “Hack Your Anxiety,” will bring his proven tools to a broader audience worldwide. He has a popular blog on the Psychology Today website and is passionate about supporting first responders and their caregivers with skills that reduce burnout, improve mental clarity, and strengthen readiness for service.
Captain Jasper Brouwer, Psychologist
Human Factors in the Dutch Fire Service: Changing the Culture to Normalize Mental Resilience
Jasper Brouwer currently work as a psychologist for several regional fire departments across the Netherlands. He supports firefighters in becoming more mentally resilient and helps them perform under pressure, especially in high-stakes or dangerous situations.
One of his key missions is to help shift the fire service culture: normalizing conversations about stress, mental health, and emotional resilience. He teaches both theory and practical lessons on topics such as Tactical Pause, dealing with emotional bystanders, giving feedback to colleagues, and managing generational differences within the fire service. He also coaches and supports commanders directly in their leadership and communication under pressure.
In addition to his work with the fire service, Brouwer also serves emergency dispatch centers, ambulance services, and coastal rescue teams. His background is rooted in 12 years as a military psychologist for elite units in the Dutch Armed Forces, including the Air Assault Brigade, Marines, Military Police, and the Air Force.
There, Brouwer specialized in training personnel in stress management, communication under pressure, Crew Resource Management, and Human Factors. He has also collaborated extensively with soldiers pre- and post-deployment to support them in handling stress and traumatic experiences.
More recently, he’s also served as a sport psychologist for several world-class track and field athletes, helping them perform at the highest level under pressure.
Dr. Kari Mika-Lude, Ph. D and Firefighter Allen Lude
Re-Humanizing the Heroes: Recognizing and Confronting the Dehumanization of First Responders
Dr. Kari Mika-Lude is a tenure-track Assistant Professor at Marshall University, where she also directs the West Virginia Behavioral Health Training Center. With over a decade of experience as a clinical mental health counselor, she specializes in trauma care for first responders.
In 2018, she founded a group practice dedicated to providing culturally competent services to this population. Dr. Mika-Lude holds a PhD in Counselor Education and recently served as Immediate Past-President of the West Virginia Counseling Association.
Allen Lude has spent much of his life serving as a volunteer firefighter, EMT, and correctional officer. His firsthand experience with the physical and emotional toll of frontline work led to a career interruption due to PTSD in the late 1990s.
With support and determination, Allen re-entered the first responder workforce and now advocates for mental health awareness, help-seeking, and trauma-sensitive workplace practices.
Together, Kari and Allen–Who are a married couple!– deliver trainings on PTSD recovery, suicide prevention, and trauma-responsive leadership for first responder organizations.
They also volunteer with a Critical Incident Stress Management (CISM) team in West Virginia, combining clinical insight and lived experience to foster healing and resilience across the fire service.
Dr. Catherine Harris, Psy. D.
The Slow Burn: Understanding the Morbidity of Suicidality
Dr. Catherine Harris is a licensed psychologist with over twenty years of experience focused on the prevention, identification, treatment, and assessment of suicidality. Her career began with an interest in post-survival experiences following near-death events, influenced by her own surgical trauma in 2003.
Since that time, she has worked with individuals who have survived suicide attempts, disasters, violence, and other significant life events. With experience as a veteran, Dr. Harris has provided services to populations such as military personnel, incarcerated individuals, law enforcement, and fire service professionals in both clinical settings and community environments.
Dr. Harris emphasizes efforts to reduce the long-term emotional and psychological impacts associated with suicidality, considering these efforts as important as addressing acute risks. She addresses chronic suicidal ideation and its effects on quality of life and workplace dynamics.
In addition to her clinical roles within CDCR and volunteer work with the Red Cross, she has contributed to staff training on suicide prevention protocols, supervised clinicians, and developed psychedelic-informed approaches for suicide risk assessment and safety planning. Her current practice, ABO Psychological Corporation, provides care for individuals and professionals experiencing suicidality.
Her background includes professional and personal exposure to suicide-related issues, including supporting peers through crisis situations and experiencing personal loss. Through workshops such as Portals & Passages: Exploring Death and Dying Through Conversation, she seeks to facilitate open discussions about difficult topics. Dr. Harris supports the idea that self-acceptance plays a role in suicide prevention.
Dr. Kristen Wheldon, Psy. D
Assessing the Feasibility and Acceptability of Trauma Risk Management (TRiM) Training Among First Responders
Dr. Wheldon is a licensed clinical psychologist who has a passion for the behavioral health of firefighters and their families.
She founded FSPA in 2017 and currently serves as the President and Chair for the Board of Advisors.
She sat on the Health and Safety Curriculum Review Committee for the National Fire Academy (NFA) and proposed the inclusion of behavioral health courses. Furthermore, she provided guest lectures to students in the NFA on the topic of, “Demystifying Psychology for the Fire Service.”
She currently serves as a NFA contract instructor for Health and Safety Program Operations courses.
Recently, Dr. Wheldon was selected as Chair Elect of the Police and Public Safety Section of the American Psychological Association’s Division 18 (Psychologists in Public Service).
This marks the first time a psychologist with expertise in fire service psychology will have leadership role within that section, reflecting progress towards formal recognition of the fire service within APA’s Division 18.
Fire Captain Heather Buren
Assessing the Feasibility and Acceptability of Trauma Risk Management (TRiM) Training Among First Responders
Captain Heather Buren serves with the San Francisco Fire Department and brings nearly three decades of frontline experience to her work as a national advocate for firefighter health and wellness.
Known for her deep cultural fluency within the fire service and her unwavering commitment to evidence-based reform, she has helped shape the future of firefighter safety through both policy and practice.
Captain Buren has developed and delivered science-backed training to reduce toxic exposures on the fireground and in the firehouse—because protecting yourself shouldn’t be a mystery, and prevention should never be optional.
From pioneering peer support programs and integrating mental health education into departmental curricula, to driving policy reform around occupational cancer, Buren has challenged the fire service to confront hard truths and take meaningful action.
Her work bridges the gap between research and reality, showing how individual behavior, crew culture, and leadership decisions collectively shape firefighter health outcomes.
Collaborating with local and national leaders in firefighter research, Buren has helped advance decontamination protocols, improve turnout gear standards, and ensure that women’s health and wellness issues are no longer sidelined—but permanently seated at the firehouse kitchen table.
Greg Menvielle
Intro to AI for the Fire Service and Mental Health Professionals
With over two decades of experience building web-based platforms and mobile applications, Greg Menvielle leads SmartTec Inc., the company behind Okaya—an AI-powered mental health intelligence platform that analyzes voice, video, and contextual data to detect early signs of fatigue and psychological distress in mission-critical teams.
A regular speaker at global tech forums including Mobile World Congress and Intel’s Innovators Program, Menvielle specializes in translating complex AI concepts into actionable insights for non-technical audiences in healthcare and public safety. His work bridges the gap between cutting-edge technology and frontline realities, empowering organizations to make data-driven decisions that protect lives and improve outcomes.
Menveille’s’s academic journey spans ancient languages (MA, University of Chicago) to modern economics (BA, UCLA), complemented by certifications from Microsoft, NVIDIA, and Kauffman Fellows. A former tech columnist for Rude Baguette, he brings a storyteller’s clarity to technical advocacy, making him a sought-after voice in the intersection of AI, mental health, and operational readiness.
Robert Avsec – Master of Ceremonies
Battalion Chief Robert Avsec (Ret.) served with the Chesterfield (Va.) Fire & EMS Department for 26 years, where he led with vision and a commitment to transformational change.
As emcee of the FSPA Conference for a third time, Chief Avsec brings not only decades of experience but also a passion for elevating dialogue around mental health, leadership, and cultural competence in the fire service.
He holds a bachelor’s degree from the University of Cincinnati and a master’s degree in Executive Fire Service Leadership from Grand Canyon University. A 2001 graduate of the National Fire Academy’s Executive Fire Officer (EFO) Program, Chief Avsec is widely recognized for his thought leadership in fire service innovation.
He is a frequent contributor to FireRescue1.com and FireChief.com, where his writing bridges operational insight with strategic foresight. He is also the author of the book, Successful Transformational Change in a Fire and EMS Department, which chronicles how a focused team built a revenue recovery program for emergency ambulance transportation from the ground up in just six months.
Robert Avsec - Master of Ceremonies
Robert Avsec is a retired fire department battalion chief who completed a successful and rewarding 1st career with the Chesterfield (Va.) Fire & EMS Department after 26-years.
During that time, he also enjoyed a long and distinguished career as an instructor in the emergency services field, serving as an adjunct Fire Instructor for the Virginia Department of Fire Programs and as an adjunct instructor for his own department’s Training and Safety Division. Chief Avsec also served as a contract instructor for the National Fire Academy in Emmitsburg, Maryland from 1992 to 2007.
In 2012 he “found” his true 2nd career as a freelance writer who contributes on-line content monthly to FireRescue1.com and EMS1.com. Chief Avsec hosts his own blog, Talking “Shop” 4 Fire and EMS, where he and his guest bloggers write weekly about leadership and management issues in the fire service and EMS.
In 2022, He had his first book published, Successful Transformational Change in a Fire and EMS Department: How a Focused Team Created a Revenue Recovery Program in Six Months–From Scratch.
Chief Avsec earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Fire and Safety Engineering Technology from the University of Cincinnati, master’s degree in Executive Fire Service Leadership through Grand Canyon University in Phoenix, Arizona, and he’s a 2001 graduate of the NFA’s Executive Fire Officer Program.
He lives in Charleston, West Virginia and in his spare time he enjoys snow skiing and golf. (If it’s white, he skis it, if it’s green he hits golf balls off it).
Dr. Carla Sutton Moore
Developing Psychological Wellness Programs in the Fire Service
Dr. Carla Sutton Mooreis a licensed psychologist and has worked in the field of mental health for over 22 years, and specifically with the fire service and other first responders for over 17 years. She has worked in several settings, including a juvenile court mental health clinic, residential treatment facility, managed care, private practice, and city government.
Currently, Dr. Moore is the Founder and Clinical Director of Moore to Life Counseling and Consulting, LLC. She also enjoys her current work as a Chief Psychologist for the City of Atlanta Public Safety Behavioral Health Wellness Unit, providing oversight in the implementation of annual wellness checks, psychoeducation and resilience training, and other prevention and wellness programming for Atlanta Fire Rescue, Police, and Corrections. She also consults with other Atlanta metropolitan agencies regarding prevention, resilience, and mental health wellness for firefighters and law enforcement officers.
Dr. Moore is a board member of the Georgia Psychological Foundation, and Co-Chair of the First Responder Mental Health Initiative Committee. She is also a member of the Southeastern Psychological Association’s Committee for Equality of Professional Opportunity and the American Psychological Association’s Division 18–Psychologists in Public Service.
She has presented research findings at conferences such as Fire-Rescue International and the Society for Criminal and Police Psychology conference. Dr. Moore has conducted research on help-seeking behaviors and clinical outcomes of firefighters that received treatment voluntarily in an internal EAP setting. Research findings have informed prevention program development, and wellness and resiliency training that is offered to City of Atlanta Fire and Rescue, as well as other metro Atlanta fire departments.
Dr. Moore is married and has two children. She enjoys traveling, exercising, singing, dancing, and volunteering with her Atlanta Falcons Cheerleader Alumni group, and trying new foods. Her strong faith, and her connection with family and community keeps her grounded and resilient.
Chief Roderick M. Smith
Developing Psychological Wellness Programs in the Fire Service
Roderick “Rod” M. Smith has twenty-eight years of fire service experience with the Atlanta Fire Rescue Department. He has extensive knowledge and training in numerous aspects of the fire service, including structural and aircraft rescue and firefighting, technical rescue, hazardous materials, administration and personnel management, public education and relations, research and development, strategic planning, Emergency Medical Service, executive development and Homeland Security.
Chief Smith has a Bachelor of Arts degree in Finance from Morehouse College and a master’s degree in Public Administration (MPA) from Columbus State University. He is a founding member of the Fire Services Information Technology Consortium. Also, he holds numerous certifications to include Paramedic, Post Certified Instructor, NIMS Type-3 Communications Leader, ARC ESRI GIS I & II. Chief Smith recently completed the National Fire Academy’s Executive Officers Program.
Brandy Carlson-Moore, MSW
Developing a Behavioral Health Access Program for firefighters and their families
Brandy is the Deputy Director of the 2nd Alarm Project. She holds a Master of Social Work degree from Florida State University with a specific focus in policy, leadership, and administration. Brandy’s work at 2nd Alarm Project includes training first responders on developing Behavioral Health Access Programs (BHAPs) and leadership in mental wellness for first responders. She was instrumental in the creation of the BHAP Toolkit which serves as the foundational resource for 2nd Alarm Project’s BHAP capacity building and technical assistance efforts with first responder departments. She also provides direct supervision and oversight to first responders, clinicians, and other BHAP subject matter experts on the team. After over 23 years of working to increase individual safety, well-being, and organizational health, she has a deep and diverse skillset in working with leadership teams, first responders, clinicians, and direct social service providers.
Prior to working at the 2nd Alarm Project,
Brandy served as President of Strategic Empowerment Consulting working with
organizations in various capacities including: grant writing, strategic
planning, leadership development, curriculum development, and mitigating
burnout in the workplace. Brandy has served on nine statewide advisory
committees and conducted over 500 trainings on a wide variety of topics such as
Board Governance, Critical Incident Leadership and Support, Crisis and Disaster
Management, Mental Health Awareness, and Strategic Planning. Previously, in her
work to end domestic violence, she and her team trained hundreds of first
responders on handling best practices in handling domestic violence crimes. Her
professional roles have included direct service work, middle management, and
executive leadership. Brandy is married to her best friend Dan who is a
Firefighter Engineer at the Tallahassee Fire Department. She is a mom to two
amazing little ones that keep her learning and growing daily.
Dr. Deborah C Beidel
Responding to Mass Casualties: Mental Wellness Deployments to a Hurricane and a Building Collapse
Dr. Deborah C. Beidel is Trustee Chair and Pegasus Professor of Psychology and Medical Education and Director of UCF RESTORES at the University of Central Florida. UCF RESTORES is a clinical research center dedicated to changing how PTSD is understood, diagnosed, and treated.
Dr. Beidel received her Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology from the University of Pittsburgh and completed a post-doctoral fellowship in clinical research at Western Psychiatric Institute and Clinic. She holds Diplomates in Clinical Psychology and Behavioral Psychology from the American Board of Professional Psychology and is a Fellow of the American Psychological Association and the Association for Psychological Science.
Dr. Beidel is a leader in the area of traumatic stress and her use of virtual reality to treat PTSD has led to the development of treatments that are two to three times more effective than standard psychological interventions. She is also the author of over 300 scientific publications including journal articles, book chapters, and books.
Dr. Beidel has received over $31 million dollars in federal research funding throughout her career, developing effective treatments for anxiety and PTSD and then disseminating them into standard clinical practice. She consults regularly with state and federal governmental agencies as well as community organizations on how to deal with the aftermath of mass violence.
Dr. Nicole L. Sawyer
Fire Service Mental Health and Wellness in a Small, Rural State: Filling Gaps and Overcoming Barriers
Dr. Nicole L Sawyer is a licensed clinical psychologist in Exeter, New Hampshire. She has served the public safety population exclusively for over 10 years.
Dr. Sawyer is the Clinical Director for several fire department peer support teams, including the Professional Fire Fighters of New Hampshire Peer Team. She is also a supporting psychologist for the New Hampshire State Police Peer Support Unit and is an instructor for the New Hampshire chapter of the National Alliance on Mental Illness and its Crisis Intervention Team training program. She is also the crisis intervention specialist for multiple SWAT and emergency response teams.
In addition to her community leadership roles, she provides psychological consultation, assessment, and evaluation for several local police and Fire/EMS departments across New Hampshire, as well as the New Hampshire State Police and the Department of Corrections. She is a frequent speaker on such topics as trauma mitigation and early crisis detection for public safety professionals.
Susan Brown
Ms. Susan Brown is a Lead Clinician and Trainer at Forge VFR Health. She has been in clinical practice for thirty years. Susan worked in rural EMS as an EMT-I for over ten years, her father retired from the fire service as chief and served in the Army National Guard, and her husband served in the Marine Corps and retired from law enforcement. She has had the privilege and honor of working with the first responder and military population for much of her career.
Susan has been involved in critical incident response for over 25 years. She maintains an individual caseload, provides wellness and mental health training at the state and local level within public safety, she is an embedded clinician at Manchester, New Hampshire Police Department, she serves on the Southern New Hampshire Regional CISM and Peer Support Team and facilitates First Responder retreats at Camp Resilience.
Joseph Elliott
Origin and development of the peer support program in the Cincinnati Fire Department.
Joseph Elliott is the Peer Support Coordinator for the Cincinnati Fire Department and has been a career firefighter/paramedic for 16 years. He also serves on the Cincinnati Fire Fighters Union Local 48 Executive Board and has served on the Tri-State Peer Support Team for the last five years
Firefighter Elliott holds a bachelor’s degree in emergency services administration from Anna Maria College and is currently working on his master’s in organizational leadership. His passion for mental health comes from the stigma surrounding mental health within the first responder community and seeing some of his co-workers struggle with mental health.
When off-duty, Elliott enjoys traveling and seeing the world with his two daughters and wife.
Dr. Erica Birkley
Origin and development of the peer support program in the Cincinnati Fire Department.
Dr. Erica Birkley is a psychologist and owner of Birkley Consulting. Dr. Birkley performs psychological testing, including post conditional offer of employment and fitness-for-duty psychological evaluations, stress inoculation and recovery training, well visits, critical incident response and planning, and consultation for first responder agencies. Dr. Birkley’s mission is to serve, nurture, and heal first responders with trustworthy expert care.
Her vision is to contribute to agency vitality, bolster peer support and mental health initiatives in our region and bring hope to first responders and their families. Dr. Birkley is married to her high school sweetheart and lives with her seven-year-old daughter on the eastside of Cincinnati. Her happy place is in dirt-stained overalls tending to her garden.
Michael Anthony Schlenk
Using the A.M.E.S. (Assemble, Measure, Execute, Systematic Use) organizational health assessment to assess public safety provider behavioral health.
Mr. Michael Schlenk is a first-year doctoral student at the University of Central Florida’s Clinical Psychology Ph.D. program. He has a background in project management and data analytics examining first responder health and wellness.
As part of multiple grant funded projects, Mr. Schlenk has co-led organizational health assessments for multiple fire service agencies across the state of Georgia and assisted in the development of wellness check programming for public safety agencies.
His research interests include understanding the experiences and health concerns–namely substance use–by female public safety personnel to promote more informed and tailored interventions.
Gustė Gramaglia
Understanding what motivates firefighters to work and challenges to that motivation.
Ms. Guste Gramaglia is a psychologist at Firefighters Training School for the Republic of Lithuania and a lecturer at Mykolas Romeris University. She pursued her academic and professional journey with a passion for understanding psychological well-being and helping people cope with the challenges they face.
Ms. Gramaglia completed her bachelor’s degree at Mykolas Romeris University in Lithuania and her master’s degree in clinical and Community Psychology at Turin University in Italy. She was licensed as a Psychodrama Assistant by the Psychodrama Association of Lithuania.
She is currently pursuing a PhD at Mykolas Romeris University with an emphasis on conducting research on how a firefighter’s motivation changes and factors that influence it. Ms. Gramaglia has been working with firefighters for five years and has gained incredible experience in teaching firefighters how to cope with stress, deal with critical situations, and how to give emotional support. She’s done much work in suicide prevention and she conducts individual and group consultations for fire service specialists.
Dr. Abby Morris
The effects of sleep deprivation on firefighters
Dr. Abby Morris received degrees from Cornell University and Georgetown School of Medicine and completed her residency training at Johns Hopkins Hospital. She is double board certified in Psychiatry/neurology and Addiction medicine. She has been a physician for 20 years and has been working as a medical director for the last 15 years.
Dr. Morris has worked in diverse medical settings including as the Medical Director for a CMHC, as the Medical Director for an Assertive Community Treatment program and as the Medical director of a 24-bed psychiatric unit in a Johns Hopkins Hospital in suburban Maryland. She is currently the Medical Director of the IAFF Center of Excellence, a stand-alone mental health treatment facility for first responders with PTSD, addiction, or other behavioral health challenges.
Dr. Morris has been awarded many local and regional honors for her academics and work in her field and is considered an international expert in first responder mental health and trauma. She has been on multiple news programs, panels, and conference forums and has been invited to teach in a variety of settings around the country and internationally.
She also serves as the medical consultant for the SWAT/CIT team in Montgomery County, Maryland and was named the Volunteer of the Year by that county’s police department in 2017. However, Dr. Morris is most proud to be the mother of two incredible young men.
Battalion Chief (Ret.) James W Peal
Chief Peal is a graduate of Georgia State University who began his career in the fire service as a volunteer firefighter before serving for 30 years with the Atlanta Fire Rescue Department. During his career, Chief Peal served as a fire medic, Fire Communication Watch commander, company officer, section chief for the Office of Professional Standards and Battalion Chief, in both field operations and airport operations.
Chief Peal was actively involved in training firefighters on various topics, most of which involved firefighter safety. Chief Peal has always believed that a firefighter’s physical and mental fitness is one of the cornerstones of firefighter safety and organizational stability.
Fire Marshal Vincent Anderson
Building collaboration between the fire service and allied professionals is a career passion for Vincent Anderson. He currently serves as the Fire Marshal with the City of Redlands (Calif.) Fire Department, a historic, yet expanding community that utilizes extensive community risk reduction initiatives for proactive protection from the risks of wildfires, earthquakes, and medical emergencies. Vince obtained his Master’s in Public Administration from Liberty University and holds a Bachelor of Arts in History with a minor in Public Affairs from UCLA. He is also a Registered Primary Instructor with California State Fire Marshal/State Fire Training, and an Adjunct Professor with Moreno Valley College. In all of these opportunities he endeavors to advocate for the fire prevention and community risk reduction specialists across the fire service community.