Dr. Michele Devlin

Dr. Michele Devlin is Professor of Environmental Security at the US Army War College in Carlisle, Pennsylvania, Professor of Arctic Health and Human Security with the National Science Foundation’s UNI ARCTICenter, and Professor Emerita at the University of Northern Iowa. She is a Doctor of Public Health, registered nurse, and emergency medical technician. Dr. Devlin’s primary specialty areas include the circumpolar human terrain of the North, environmental grey zone warfare activities, climate migrants, civil-military response to disasters, indigenous populations, and cross-cultural engagement with diverse and underserved populations. Prior to joining the US Army War College, Dr. Devlin was Professor of Global Health at the University of Northern Iowa for 27 years. She was the founding director of the UNI Global Health Corps and the Iowa Center on Health Disparities, a model agency established by the National Institutes of Health to improve health equity for underserved populations. Michele Devlin completed her doctorate degree in international public health at the University of California at Los Angeles.  She has published extensively, including several books: “Health Matters: A Guide to Working with Diverse and Underserved Populations”; “Postville USA:  Surviving Diversity in Small-Town America”; and “Tactical Anthropology: A Practical Guide for Emergency Responders in Culturally Complex Communities.”  In addition to her academic and center director expertise, Dr. Devlin has 30 years of field experience working with the military, public health, hospitals, law enforcement, public safety, non-profit, and disaster relief organizations around the world.  Dr. Devlin has served as a frequent cultural awareness trainer for the Iowa Department of Public Safety and Law Enforcement Academies. She is an international disaster relief team member with the American Red Cross and has deployed to both Haiti and the Philippines.  Dr. Devlin has led or participated in multiple medical missions around the world in Latin America, Africa, Asia, and the Middle East, and is also a wilderness medic with the US National Park Service. She is a member of the California Medical Reserve Corps; the Iowa Disaster Medical Assistance Team; Disaster Mortuary Operational Team; Team Rubicon; and other humanitarian organizations.  Dr. Devlin is the recipient of the One Iowa Award, the Iowa Women’s Hall of Fame Award, the Iowa Civil Rights Award, and other honors for outstanding teaching, scholarship, and service.  She has extensive travel experience in nearly 70 nations around the world. She most recently spent six months working above the Arctic Circle with indigenous Inupiaq communities on health and human security issues and traveled to Antarctica to study environmental security issues. Dr. Devlin is honored to have served with the U.S. Army Corps of Civilians during Operation Enduring Freedom as a lead human terrain scientist in Afghanistan.