For Ian Pinkham ‘24, the Emergency Management program at USC Bovard College provided an immersive and enriching experience. Pinkham’s journey in emergency management began when a chance opportunity to serve as an Emergency Services Coordinator for a local Southern California city sparked a career spanning nearly three decades. The Master of Science in Emergency Management program provided Pinkham the opportunity to formalize his decades of real-world experience and grow his professional network through the connections he made in his classes.
Recently, Pinkham was challenged with protecting NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) during the Los Angeles wildfires in January 2025. This challenge was deeply personal, as his own neighborhood was under evacuation orders, and his own home was at risk of being destroyed. Despite this, Pinkham focused on protecting the JPL for more than one week.
In this interview, Pinkham shares how the program has reinforced the importance of teamwork, adaptability, and communication. Pinkham also highlights the value of networking in his program. He shares that having strong connections can make a big difference when faced with large-scale emergencies.
What initially sparked your interest in emergency management?
Originally, I thought I might have a career in fire services. I was a reserve firefighter while I was working on my Bachelor’s degree back in the 1990s. As I was preparing to leave school, a friend let me know of an opening to become an Emergency Services Coordinator for a local city. After applying and getting the position, I embraced emergency management and began taking all of the possible courses in the field. During this time, there were no formal degrees offered in emergency management. However, the State Office of Emergency Services ran the California Specialized Training Institute (CSTI), which provided training. While CSTI is still around and a valued asset, there are now more formal options, like USC’s MS in Emergency Management program, that are a tremendous opportunity for those who have an interest in the field. When I started the MSEM program, I had already been in the field for almost 25 years and was looking to formalize my years of training and experience.
When you were researching graduate programs, what stood out to you about USC’s program?
USC’s program stood out to me because of the reputation of the school, the flexibility that came with the online curriculum, and the fact that the professors were all actively engaged in emergency management in the real world. As a single parent who works full time, I needed the flexibility to accomplish work when I had time available. This program just met all of the requirements that I had.
How did you balance classes and assignments with other responsibilities outside of school?
At times, the workload could be a bit much. However, I recognize that as a single parent who works full time, that was just my situation. Whenever I had any concerns about potential conflicts, I voiced them early and often to my professors to coordinate to ensure we all were on the same page. It is really all about communication and engagement, which is exactly what is demanded in the EM profession, so it works out well as a teaching moment.
How would you describe the program’s overall culture?
Team building and a focus on bringing success to all who truly engage. The program wants people to succeed, so engage and embrace it, and you will enjoy the ride.
What was your experience like working with fellow students?
I made some new lifelong friends from this program, which was not something I had thought about closely before going in. I thought it would be hard being all online. However, we bonded with each other and would reach out and exchange numbers and emails to work on classwork. I still keep in touch with more than ten of my classmates and have actually worked with several, including two of my professors, during the recent LA firestorms in January 2025. Knowing where fellow students work is a HUGE networking piece, especially if you are located near each other, which you can leverage during a disaster. Even fellow students in other areas form great bonds where you can reach out and support each other along the EM journey.
What is the biggest challenge you faced on the job after graduating, and how did you overcome it?
I was recently running our Emergency Operations Center for almost ten days straight during the Southern California fires. Both my home and work at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) were under mandatory evacuation. I had to send my daughter off with friends, anticipated my house would burn down, and focused on running emergency operations protecting JPL. The event saw the loss of more than 200 of my co-workers’ homes and almost 20 of my friends’ and families’ homes and devastated our community. I’m fortunate that my daughter and house are fine, but this was a real challenge while maintaining my role at work.
How do you see the field of emergency management evolving as a whole?
Emergency management will continue to evolve as we introduce new complications into our world, such as artificial intelligence. While natural disasters continue to exist and happen, we bring new tools that can both help and challenge how we respond. The more humans become reliant on computers, the more we open ourselves up to dependencies and sometimes neglect learning other skills needed to help us thrive and survive during emergencies. Computer systems will remain targets for cyber attacks, and as our culture depends on these systems that support a variety of our daily lives and critical infrastructure, we have to have plans in place to address failures and emergencies.
Where do you see yourself in the future?
I hope to continue in the field for several more years, share my knowledge with others as I have the opportunities, and maybe even return to teach for this great program at some point.
What do you think is the most rewarding part of working in this field for you?
As a first responder, you often meet people on one of the worst days of their lives: when they have called for help. In emergency management, you are working through the entire cycle of trying to prepare people ahead of time, respond when needed, and then help with the recovery and mitigation efforts to address why the problems happened in the first place. Feeling that you can make a difference by improving people’s ability to recognize their own opportunities for improvement and help them build a sense of resilience at the individual and organizational levels is very meaningful for me.
Do you have any special interests or hobbies?
I’m very much an aquatic person! From volunteering with the Scouting program for lifesaving to certifying those who run aquatics for camps, I’m passionate about SCUBA diving and enjoy taking pictures underwater. From sharks to nudibranchs, I enjoy interacting with and exploring the magnificent worlds below!
Learn more about the MS in Emergency Management program.