STARKVILLE, Miss. -- A Mississippi State University Extension program coordinator will serve as chair of the Extension Disaster Education Network, EDEN, for a two-year term.

Tom Ball, MSU Extension program coordinator for disaster response and recovery, was officially named chair of the organization during its annual conference in October after serving two years as chair-elect. Ball is based in the MSU Extension Center for Government and Community Development.

EDEN is a nationwide collaborative of 140 Extension Service emergency management networks from land-grant and sea-grant institutions. The organization’s mission is to reduce the impact of disasters through research-based education and improve the delivery of services to disaster victims.

Member institutions support the objective by enhancing the planning, response and resilience abilities of Extension clients, stakeholders, volunteers, citizens, and partnering agencies and organizations. EDEN provides annual grant funding for research projects on community disaster resilience and mitigation.

Ball also serves as an emergency coordinating officer on behalf of MSU Extension and the Mississippi Agricultural and Forestry Experiment Station in the Mississippi State Emergency Operations Center, supporting their roles as specified in the state’s Comprehensive Emergency Management Plan.

He has been MSU Extension’s point of contact in EDEN since 2005 and has chaired several committees during various parts of his tenure. He also chaired EDEN task forces dealing with operating guidelines updates and the development of 2023-2026 strategic plan for the network.

The EDEN annual conference features professional development opportunities for delegates and allows member institutions to share best practices, develop research plans and showcase recently completed emergency research projects.