PLENARY SPEAKERS

Chad Berginnis, CFM

Chad Berginnis became executive director of ASFPM in July 2012, after joining the association staff as associate director in 2011. Since 2000, he served the association as Insurance Committee chair, Mitigation Policy Committee coordinator, vice-chair, and chair. He has a Bachelor of Science in natural resources from Ohio State University. Since 1993, his work has focused on floodplain management, hazard mitigation and land use planning at the state, local and private sector level. As a state official, Berginnis worked in the Ohio Floodplain Management Program and was Ohio’s state hazard mitigation officer. As a local official, Berginnis administered planning, economic development and floodplain management programs in Perry County, Ohio. In the private sector, he was the national practice leader in hazard mitigation for Michael Baker Jr. Inc.

Rachael A. Dempsey

Rachael A. Dempsey is the National Ocean Service’s (NOS) first-ever deputy assistant administrator for navigation, observations, and positioning. With nearly 28 years as a Meteorology and Oceanography Officer in the United States Navy, Ms. Dempsey has broad meteorological and oceanographic prediction and operational application expertise and significant experience leading large, diverse organizations and managing financial resources. She also possesses an extensive background in cyber operations and network defense background.

Ms. Dempsey managed the Navy’s $2 billion undersea surveillance systems program and a variety of Navy Department research and development programs. As the Deputy Command Information Officer for Naval Information Forces, she oversaw critical network cybersecurity programs for over 70 subordinate organizations. Selected as one of the first women to serve as an information warfare commander at sea, she delivered innovative solutions to maintain adversarial advantage in the information sphere; as the maritime operations center director for Fleet Cyber Command, she was responsible for coordination and oversight of global navy cyber, space and communications operations.

Ms. Dempsey grew up in Upper Marlboro, Maryland, and is passionate about maritime environmental stewardship and its important role in economic and national security.

She earned her bachelor’s degree in marine science from Jacksonville University in Florida and holds master’s degrees in meteorology and oceanography from the Naval Postgraduate School and in national security strategy from the Naval War College in Newport, Rhode Island. Additionally, Ms. Dempsey earned a certificate for leadership in the intelligence community from the National Intelligence University in Bethesda, Maryland.

Ms. Dempsey is an avid gardener and lives with her husband and two children in Alexandria, Virginia.

Katie Jones

Katie Jones is an enrolled member of the Blackfeet Nation (Amskapi Piikani), and of mixed European descent. She is a Program Lead for the NSF NCAR Rising Voices Center for Indigenous and Earth Sciences and a Plant Ecologist at the National Ecological Observatory Network (NEON) in Boulder, Colorado. Her research interests include plant community interactions, climate change impacts on ecosystems, supporting reproducible analysis workflows, and integrating Indigenous data governance practices in open science research. As a member of the Rising Voices community and co-lead of the Earth Data Relations Working Group, Katie advocates for responsible data practices that prioritize transparency, mutual respect and co-production. She is committed to fostering collaborative research that incorporates diverse perspectives and relationships to ecological data, leading to more equitable and effective solutions.

Katie holds an MS in Botany and Plant Pathology from Oregon State University and a BS in Environmental Science from The Evergreen State College.