Willamette Stories

Buehler Wins Homeland Security Internship and Scholarship

Matthew Buehler, a sophomore majoring in sociology and political science, has been selected as a paid public policy intern in the Department of Homeland Security’s first-ever summer internship program. Buehler has also just been awarded a $2,500 renewable Ronald Reagan Future Leaders Scholarship. The national scholarships are awarded to undergraduates who demonstrate exceptional achievements “as leaders on behalf of freedom, American values and constitutional principles.”

Last summer, Buehler worked as a federal grant and public policy researcher, which gave him the needed experience to qualify for the Homeland Security position. “Working with the Regional Alliances for Infrastructure and Network Security (RAINS), which is a public-private partnership of first-responder agencies, research universities and more than 60 high-tech businesses in Oregon like Intel, gave me the skills and experience necessary to gain this internship,” Buehler says. “It also helped that I worked last semester at Willamette’s Public Policy Research Center with Professor Laura Leete. I studied homeland security public policy and strategies to empower first responders to mitigate the effects of terrorism more effectively.”

Working with special assistant to the Secretary Al Martinez-Fonts and other policy analysts, Buehler will study how partnerships can be established between the government and the private sector for emergency preparedness and response and the protection of critical infrastructure. The Homeland Security-Private Sector Office works directly with businesses, trade associations and other professional and non-governmental organizations. Buehler will help the department develop a better understanding of the private sector’s interests and challenges in a post 9/11 world.

“I’ll be working on bridging the divide between terrorism preparedness, emergency response and disaster mitigation between the government and the private sector,” says Buehler. “I hope to help promote better public policy techniques to empower American first responders to mitigate the human and economic consequences of a terrorist attack.”

In addition to being named a recipient of a Ronald Reagan Scholarship, which Buehler will use to defray his undergraduate educational costs, Buehler was recently selected as one of four Willamette University nominees for the 2004-2005 Truman Public Service Scholarship. His public policy proposal for that scholarship will be directly related to the work he’ll be doing this summer as an intern.