BIO ~ KAREN COLLINS
Karen Collins serves as Vice President, Property & Environmental in the Policy, Research, and International Division for the American Property Casualty Insurance Association (APCIA). APCIA is the largest property and casualty insurance trade association with over 1,200 member companies nationwide. APCIA’s members write nearly 60 percent of the property and casualty insurance in the U.S. Karen provides thought leadership on property and catastrophe issues, with emphasis on risk mitigation and resilience to natural catastrophes such as flood, hurricane, and wildfire. She provides policy expertise on legislative and regulatory issues at the state, federal and international level, on behalf of the trade association and its membership. Prior to joining APCIA, Karen acquired 20 years of insurance experience with several major insurance carriers, in varying roles and responsibilities spanning Product, Sales, I.T.
BIO ~ ANNE D. COPE, PhD, P.E.
Dr. Anne Cope joined IBHS in 2009 just a few months before the groundbreaking for the construction of the IBHS Research Center in Richburg, South Carolina. As the Chief Engineer, she leads the development of research programs to improve the performance of structures in hurricanes, wildfires, severe thunderstorms, and hailstorms as well as the team of engineers, scientists, and skilled craftsman who conduct research on full-scale homes and commercial buildings. She is responsible for the team’s implementation of research findings into building codes and standards.
Prior to joining IBHS, Dr. Cope was a project manager and structural engineer with Reynolds, Smith & Hills, Inc., designing projects for NASA, Department of Defense, and commercial launch operations. Dr. Cope’s research encompasses topics ranging from the full-scale simulation of wind effects on buildings to detailed studies of the vulnerabilities of buildings to natural hazards and the development of damage prediction models. She is also a proud veteran of the United States Army. She earned her bachelor’s and master’s degrees in civil engineering from Clemson University, and her doctorate from the University of Florida. She is a registered professional engineer in Florida and South Carolina.
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