Article Out Loud – Agriculture Security: Systems-Based Preparedness

Joshua Dise is an interdisciplinary national security and emergency management professional with experience in both operational and analytical roles. His work addresses complex and interconnected risks, including industrial hazards, transboundary diseases, cybersecurity, and systemic threats to critical infrastructure. He currently serves as a systems analyst at Sandia National Laboratories, where he provides decision support on ill-defined, multi-domain national security challenges using a broad range of technical skills and expertise. Prior to this, he served as a lead technical analyst and emergency planner at Sandia, where he was responsible for delivering a variety of hazard analyses and consequence assessment products. His research interests include environmental hazard response, biosecurity, agricultural and public health preparedness, natural resource management and security, and the convergence of digital and physical infrastructure risks. Joshua holds advanced degrees in emergency management and natural resources and is currently a Ph.D. student at Oklahoma State University, studying fire and emergency management administration. He is also an alumnus of the National Preparedness and Leadership Initiative at Harvard University.

Adrian Self is an Operations Research Analyst at Kansas State University’s National Agricultural Biosecurity Center, where he manages advanced technological research and development across multiple program areas. Self’s industry and academic background is diverse, encompassing economics research, investment analysis, risk underwriting, and hazard uncertainty calculus. He also possesses knowledge in technology, communications, and foreign languages and cultures, further enhancing multidisciplinary approaches to research and development. His prior roles in regulatory and research compliance complement his service as chair of the Kansas State Environmental Health & Safety campus institutional committee. Engaging as a practitioner visionary at intersections of cyber-biosecurity, health security, and food and agriculture enterprise pathway resilience, he explores complex problems as a multidisciplinary strategist.