Ryan Putman serves as a Deputy State Fire Marshal for the Office of the State Fire Marshal, Utah Department of Public Safety, specializing as a Fire Investigator and Hazardous Materials Specialist. He began his Public Safety career as an EMT in 2002 and has been with the Office of the State Fire Marshal since 2016. Ryan created the Fire Marshal’s robotics program and developed the virtual and online training programs, sharing his expertise through published articles and speaking engagements across North America. He holds an Associate of Science from Weber State University, a Bachelor of Science in Environmental Management from Columbia Southern University, and a Master of Science in Management and Leadership from Western Governors University. His professional certifications include Hazardous Materials Incident Commander, Hazardous Materials Officer, Hazardous Materials Safety Officer, Radiation Specialist, US FAA Certified Remote Pilot, IAAI-Certified Fire Investigator, and NAFI-Certified Fire and Explosion Investigator.

Nick Sword is in his 27^th year of service with the Toronto Police Service, including two decades as a member of the Explosive Disposal Unit. He is a current and validated Police Explosive Technician, certified Post-Blast Investigator, Complex Devices Operator, and Advanced CBRNE (Chemical, Biological, Radiological, Nuclear, and Explosives) Technician.

Since 2019, Nick has led the unit’s specialized training program, designing and delivering advanced instruction in both explosives and CBRNE disciplines.

Nick is the lead instructor for the Toronto Joint CBRNE Response Team, delivering training to both Police, Fire and EMS personnel.

His expertise is nationally and internationally recognized—he has served as an instructor for numerous federal training programs in Ottawa and Suffield, Alberta, and was seconded to Global Affairs Canada in 2014 to deliver explosives and CBRN training in the Middle East.

Nick has played a key role in the security planning and assessment for major international events, including the G20 Summit, Pan Am Games, Invictus Games, G7 Finance Ministers’ Meetings, and multiple Presidential visits and most recently the 2026 FIFA World Cup.

Before joining the Toronto Police, Nick served nine years in the British Armed Forces, with operational deployments to Northern Ireland, Iraq/Kuwait/Saudi Arabia, and the Balkans.

Colonel Boireau has served in CBRN defense since 2003. He notably commanded the French CBRN reference unit, the 2nd Dragoon Regiment. He has deployed several times in operations, and also served in tactical and strategic circles for national affairs and international issues. He is currently head of the NRBC office of the joint military general staff. 

Before he took command of the Bundeswehr CBRN Defence Command on 21 September 2021, Colonel Saalow served as Defence Advisor of the German Representative to the Political and Security Committee of the European Union in Brussels.He was also the Deputy Head of the Military Policy Section, which supports the Representative in the field of Foreign and Security Policy in all military-political issues including crisis management and capability development. Colonel Saalow has a wide experience in the area of EU Common Security and Defence Policy in Brussels, in the Ministry of Defence in Berlin but also in the field, where he served as Chief of Staff of an EU Mission in Africa and as Staff Officer Operations of the Eurocorps in Strasbourg.During his time in NATO he was special advisor of the Supreme Allied Commander Transformation in Norfolk. Beside this he served in operations in Asia, Africa and Europe and commanded the CBRN Defence Regiment of the Bundeswehr. Colonel Saalow studied at the University of the Bundeswehr in Hamburg and at the National University of Singapore and holds a Master Degree of Business Administration. He was also awarded with the German Cross of Honor and with the French Medal of Defence.

Fire Chief/Hazmat Technician Jon Davine

Jon Davine has been a firefighter for over 23 years and currently serves as the Chief for the Northampton Fire Rescue Department.  He is also a member of the Massachusetts Department of Fire Services Hazmat Response Team and is the Training Coordinator for the District 4 Team.  He has been a Hazardous Materials Technician since 2003 and is an original member of the Joint Hazard Incident Response Team (JHIRT) team attached to the Massachusetts State Police Bomb Squad.  He is also a member of the Clandestine Lab Enforcement Team (CLET).  Chief Davine is a Hazmat Subject Matter Expert and instructs nationally on various Hazmat topics.  He is a native of Adams, MA and currently lives in Easthampton, MA with his wife and twin sons.

Dr. Philipp C. Bleek is a Professor in the Nonproliferation and Terrorism Studies program, and a Fellow at both the James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies and Center on Terrorism, Extremism, and Counterterrorism, all at the Middlebury Institute of International Studies in Monterey, California.

His work focuses on the causes, consequences, and amelioration of chemical, biological, radiological, and nuclear weapons threats, from both state and non-state actors, at the intersection of academia, non-governmental organizations, the private sector, and government.

Dr. Bleek served as an expert on the 2022-24 Congressionally-mandated, Department of Defense-sponsored, National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine-convened study “Assessing and Improving Strategies for Preventing, Countering, and Responding to Weapons of Mass Destruction Terrorism: Chemical Threats.”

In 2012-13, while on leave from his faculty position, he served as Senior Advisor to the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Nuclear, Chemical and Biological Defense Programs in the Office of the Secretar of Defense.

He is a former Emergency Medical Technician (New Jersey).

In CBRNe World, he authored "A Second Bite at the Poisonous Apple?"

(June 2025, with Tekla Gagoshidze), "Eye of Newt, Toe of Frog...Maybe Just Novichok?" (June 2024, with Grey Kegler), “Acid Reign of Terror”

(May 2020, with Cyrus Jabbari), “Fellowship of the Drone” (February 2019, with Zachary Kallenborn), and was interviewed in “Into the Green” (April 2021, by Gwyn Winfield, including Zachary Kallenborn).

These and other publications are available at his faculty page.