Bruce Bender
Steve McMaster

Steve McMaster, Nebraska

Hazard mitigation is the sweet spot where Steve’s passions intersect: weather/disasters and helping people, especially those impacted by floods and other disasters. Although he doesn’t directly assist homeowners and communities with flood mitigation projects anymore, he sees his role of the standing conference program chair for ASFPM’s Annual Conference as a continuation of this service by helping conference attendees to fill this need. Major accomplishments and important ASFPM activities Steve has been involved in during his career include:

  • 1995 to 1996: Steve began his involvement with ASFPM as a student member while in graduate school. He used the ASFPM News & Views as some of the references for his Master’s thesis, which compared rates of floodplain development before vs. after levee construction.
  • 1996 to 1998: Steve began his professional involvement with flood mitigation as a project manager for floodplain acquisition projects at the Illinois Emergency Management Agency. Although the Great Flood of 1993 was devastating for many Upper Mississippi River communities, it was ideal timing for employment in the new and suddenly well-funded field of hazard mitigation.
  • 1998 to 2010: Steve started working for the Nebraska Department of Natural Resources as the agency’s federal grants specialist and State Coordinator for the brand-new Flood Mitigation Assistance program (with other NFIP-funded flood mitigation programs to follow). Steve developed guidebooks and built support for flood mitigation and mitigation planning in Nebraska through countless public meeting presentations.
  • 2003: Steve became a Certified Floodplain Manager.
  • 2004: George Riedel asked and Steve agreed to be the program chair for the ASFPM conference in Biloxi, MS.
  • 2005-2012: Steve served ASFPM as a Flood Mitigation Committee co-chair, during which time he authored influential white papers about benefit-cost analysis and improving hazard mitigation policies and tools. Steve is an expert on BCA analysis used by a myriad of federal programs, and he lends that expertise as voice to ASFPM in policy discussions.
  • 2005 to 2007: Steve served on the ASFPM Board as the Director for Region 7.
  • 2010: Steve entered private sector employment as a subject matter expert and instructor for hazard mitigation training.
  • 2011: Steve was honored to receive the Louthain Award for Distinguished Service at the annual national conference in Louisville, KY.
  • 2008 to present: Starting with the conference in Reno, NV, Steve has served ASFPM as the standing conference program chair.

Steve considers himself fortunate to have worked in such an interesting, challenging, and rewarding field. For newcomers to hazard mitigation, Steve has the following advice: know the regs, learn the processes and tools, network, and get involved with professional associations like ASFPM!