Meet our Keynote Speaker: Dr. Ivan Pupulidy

Dr. Ivan Pupulidy created the U.S. Forest Service Human Performance, Innovation and Organizational Learning team to focus on understanding risk in complex adaptive systems and foster a culture of learning in the agency. Ivan developed the Learning Review, a process that replaced serious accident investigation in the Forest Service and offered a new way to view accidents and normal work. His ability to integrate academic research with real world application comes from his varied life pursuits, which have included work as a mine geologist, exploration geophysicist, and a U.S. Coast Guard pilot for rescue and law enforcement missions. Ivan was an accomplished Forest Service aviation firefighter and served in the U.S. Air Guard and Air Force Reserves as a C-130 pilot, Safety Officer, and MAFFS tanker pilot on wildland fires.

Ivan is currently a Professor at the University of Alabama at Birmingham where he teaches learning-based safety and human potential for the Advanced Safety and Engineering Management master’s degree program. His courses, like his career, focus on risk and safety in complex systems and high-risk environments, such as wildland firefighting, aviation, military, and medicine. Ivan earned a Master of Science degree in Human Factors and Systems Safety at Lund University, Sweden, under Professor Sidney Dekker, and completed his PhD in organizational transformation, at Tilburg University, Netherlands.

Ivan is the author of, “Human & Organization Potential” (in print December 2023): Human and Organization Potential (HOP) helps us to understand how people tackle risks and create safety in the workplace. It offers a bridge between theory and application to help us work within complex adaptive systems, which, by their very nature, deliver the unexpected. This book helps us to understand our systems, our culture, and our people. Illustrated with real life examples, all levels of safety professionals, managers, and leaders will find practical ideas that will help guide them through safety challenges.