By Meghan Peters -

When natural disasters hit Washington, many are left shaken, distressed and emotionally drained.

For Rob Harper, it’s a long day at work – and a way to make a difference.

The 1969 broadcast journalism alumnus is a public information officer for the Washington state Emergency Management Division. During emergencies and natural disasters, he helps the community to respond effectively.

“The work has really varied but it’s kind of pulled a lot of knowledge I have,” Harper said. “The key thing is you feel each day you contributed something, you make a difference by being able to communicate things so the public knows what you’re doing…. about expectations and timeliness of disaster.”

Putting the communication theory and policy that he learned in his UW classes into practice during his college years was a valuable spring board. Working at The Daily with classmates such as Fred Olsen, former deputy chief of staff for Gov. Christine Gregoire, helped him gain relevant experience, he said.

After graduating, Harper went to the other UW – the University of Wisconsin-Madison – where he earned a graduate degree. He worked part-time for the Associated Press before he moved to Spokane to cover legislature and politics for the Spokesman Review.

Eight years later, when news outlets began to downsize, he decided to use his skill set outside of journalism. He worked for the Washington state Department of Natural Resources for 12 years. In 1981, he helped the state acquire 213 miles of the Milwaukee Road Railroad, which has since become a part of state parks such as Iron Horse Trail State Park.

Harper also gained experience working with wild fires and landslides, which helped set him up for the emergency management position.

In 1992, he became a public information officer for the state’s hazardous spill program.

“I felt really good about that,” Harper said. “You can look at those sites and say ‘we did it in an efficient way’: cleaning up the environment and making a difference.”

Working with the Emergency Management Division, there are few boring days, he said. And with the variety of disasters in Washington, informing the public has its obstacles.

“[There are] challenges in how to communicate with people at risk,” he said. “You need to promote reassurance, but also show them they’re at risk.”

Recently, Harper has been working with national emergency management to establish better training for emergency management professionals. By creating more consistent policies and rules, he has helped to standardize guidance for public information officers throughout the country.

Last year, Harper was involved in a series of training courses and requirements published and nationally distributed by FEMA for its National Incident Management System. He said he hopes to work with this project again.

“You’re making sure the officials understand, control public expectations – getting them to act so that people act and stay safe,” Harper said. “You’ve got to be able to convey through media to the public: Be credible, clear, accurate. You can save people from injury and death.”

Having public information officers has gone from being a luxury to a necessity. Communicating effectively with the media and, in turn, the public, is difficult to do without the liaison, he said.

Learning how to write clearly and concisely in broadcast media classes and as a reporter has helped Harper to be efficient in his job. These skills have been particularly useful with the rise of the Internet and instant communication, he added.

Though he pictured himself with a future in the media when he graduated, Harper said he’s glad he applied the diverse skills he learned at UW to other fields.

“It’s surprising sometimes how you refer back to information or things you learned during your college time,” he said.

Harper lives in Olympia with his wife, who is also a UW graduate. He has two children who graduated from UW.