Bio

Jessica Pugh is Missouri's first full-time, steady-state State Disaster Recovery Coordinator (SDRC), one of only 14 in the country, and has been in that role for the last three and a half years – she has been involved in recovery for seven presidentially declared disasters during that time and countless undeclared events. Prior to becoming SDRC, Jessica worked for the Missouri House of Representatives for seven legislative sessions, focusing on rural communities, agriculture, economic development, and government transparency. She was born and raised in rural Missouri and completed her Bachelor of Science degree in Social Science from Central Methodist University, and her Master of Arts degree from the University of Central Missouri with a research focus on governmental crisis communication and social media best practices before, during, and after natural disasters. She is currently pursuing a Master's in Library and Information Science at the University of Missouri – Columbia with a focus on government information agencies and archival studies.