A University of Hawaii professor has been named to a three-year term as leader of a consortium of universities and federal agencies focused on homeland security and natural disaster mitigation.

The appointment of Karl Kim as chairman of the National Domestic Preparedness Consortium was announced Friday.

Kim is the executive director of the National Disaster Preparedness Training Center at UH-Manoa and a professor in the Department of Urban and Regional Planning.

In his new capacity, Kim will lead the consortium in development and delivery of training and educational programs to help safeguard the nation against natural and man-made hazards and threats.

The consortium, which includes the UH-Manoa disaster center, is the principal provider of training to first responders, emergency managers and others involved in response and recovery from such events as terrorism, weapons of mass destruction and natural disasters.

Since its inception, the consortium has provided training for more than 2 million emergency responders across the nation.

"It is an honor to take on a leadership role focused on enhancing the nation’s preparedness and disaster response, and recovery capabilities," Kim said in a statement. "This is an exciting opportunity to further integrate the research being conducted at the University of Hawaii at Manoa in areas such as volcanoes, earthquakes, tsunamis, storms, sea level rise and other hazards, as well as urban planning and environmental management. As we look at the science of disasters, we’ll focus on the physical science as well as the social science. We’ll look at the impacts of disasters on communities and households, how we respond to it, how we recover from it and how we rebuild communities affected by these disasters."

The National Disaster Preparedness Training Center, established by Congress in 1998, is focused on natural hazards, coastal communities, and the needs and opportunities associated with islands and territories. It works to reduce disaster risks through urban planning, environmental management, and through addressing the needs of underserved at-risk populations. The program has trained more than 12,000 first responders in more than 200 U.S. cities, villages and rural communities.

Van Romero, co-founder of the National Domestic Preparedness Consortium and vice president for research at New Mexico Tech, welcomed Kim’s appointment.

"His international reputation in disaster management will only enhance the already strong reputation of the consortium," he said.

Since joining UH-Manoa in 1985, Kim has generated more than $38.8 million in federal, state and international research and training grants on transportation, traffic safety, environmental management, disaster management and humanitarian assistance.