Donald Moynihan, Associate Professor of Public Affairs and a WAGE Affiliate, has won a prestigious Baldwin grant for a symposium that will focus on improving state policies before the next disaster and providing better information on everything from hydrology to climate change and intergovernmental collaboration.

Called "From Sandbags to Sanity: Lessons from the Midwest Floods of 2008," the symposium will be held Monday, April 20, in Madison and feature national experts, University of Wisconsin-Madison experts and top leaders from state agencies. They will discuss topics ranging from floodplain management to crisis management.

"By sharing the most recent research insights into crisis management and floodplains we can help state policymakers and local government to better prepare for and respond to the type of flooding and related catastrophes that Wisconsin experienced in 2008," Moynihan says. "The symposium and the networks we develop will build a solid platform for launching useful and important interaction on multiple levels of government across the state."

The project, also partly funded through the University of Wisconsin-Madison Water Resources Institute and the Center for World Affairs and the Global Economy, will match the needs of key policymakers within local and state agencies with a broad range of campus expertise. The seminar, organized by the La Follette School's Outreach Office, is timed to enhance legislative and executive branch policy originating from the Wisconsin Recovery Task Force and a special legislative committee.