Kyle Karsjen

Kyle Karsjen is an Emergency Preparedness Specialist for Michael Baker International’s MER3 (Mitigation, Environmental, Response, Recovery & Resiliency) business vertical, which unites Tidal Basin Group, MLU Services, and Michael Baker’s EMR (Emergency Management & Response) team. He has over 18 years of experience in emergency management, including threat/hazard identification and risk assessment, hazard mitigation, capabilities assessment, strategic planning, emergency response planning, infrastructure and asset protection, and program assessment.

Kyle supports clients in developing planning, training, and exercise initiatives. His work includes process facilitation, training development, exercise development and support, and technical assistance. 

Before joining Tidal Basin, Mr. Karsjen spent 4.5 years at Wood Environment and Infrastructure Solutions, providing emergency management consulting services to state, local, and tribal clients nationwide. These services included facilitating the after-action report and improvement plan review, state and local coordination of the Gold King Mine Spill in southwest Colorado, and supporting the risk assessment and overall development of hazard mitigation plan updates for both the City and County of Denver and Jefferson County. He also supported the development of a comprehensive framework for responding to a failure of the Cherry Creek Dam, working with representatives from the City and County of Denver, Arapahoe County, Adams County, and the City of Aurora to develop a cohesive response. 

Additionally, Mr. Karsjen has twelve years of experience in state-level emergency management. Throughout his tenure at Iowa Homeland Security and Emergency Management, he was responsible for the development of an assortment of plans and planning products, including threat and hazard analyses and risk assessments, capabilities assessments, and strategic plans; he coordinated the development of the State of Iowa’s first Threat and Hazard Identification and Risk Assessment (THIRA) and State Preparedness Report (SPR). Most of Mr. Karsjen’s projects have involved facilitating diverse groups in developing and implementing specific planning and project goals. Additionally, he has provided guidance and technical assistance to counties and communities on emergency response plan development. He has also designed and helped facilitate training and HSEEP-compliant exercises. 

In addition to his planning and program experience, Mr. Karsjen has held a variety of response and recovery roles in Iowa’s State Emergency Operations Center for a number of federally declared disasters, including floods, blizzards, and the state’s activities during the national Hurricane Katrina response. He has local response experience as a firefighter and emergency medical technician.