Ellen Chappelka is a Coastal Resilience Specialist for the Washington State Emergency Management Division. Ellen works on the interagency Coastal Hazards Organizational Resilience Team (COHORT) with Washington Sea Grant, WSU Extension, and Washington State Department of Ecology. She assists communities in addressing coastal hazards through coordination, resource connection, technical assistance, and planning. She’s particularly interested in strengthening connections between state agencies and local communities.

Ellen holds a master’s degree in public health from Harvard University’s T.H. Chan School of Public Health. She also holds a bachelor’s degree from Tulane University in New Orleans where she double majored in Public Health and Homeland Security. Her time in Louisiana helped her develop a life long passion for coastal areas and the hazards that impact them.