Robert J. Koester — dbS Productions LLC

Robert J. Koester first joined the Appalachian Search & Rescue Conference in 1981 and since then has participated in hundreds of searches, including over a hundred as Incident Commander. He holds a Ph.D. from the University of Portsmouth U.K. in search theory and a MS from the University of Virginia in biology (neurobiology).His contributions to search and rescue include seminal research on lost person behavior (with an early emphasis on dementia) along with creating the International Search and Rescue Incident Database (ISRID). A Search and Rescue Mission Coordinator, instructor for the Virginia Department of Emergency Management and past-president (15 years) of the Virginia Search and Rescue Council, Robert has also worked for the United States Coast Guard (conducting visual sweep width experiments), National Aeronautics and Space Administration (conducting missing aircraft radar research), National Park Service (responding to major searches and writing the draft NPS SAR Field Manual), Federal Emergency Management Agency (as an instructor), DHS Science & Technology Directorate (creating search and rescue software and apps), SAR Institute of New Zealand (conducting sound and light sweep width experiments), and Justice Institute of British Columbia (reviewing management texts). He is the CEO of dbS Productions which provides research, publications, and training services. Robert has authored numerous books and research articles on search and rescue, including Lost Person Behavior. He has presented in Aruba, Australia, Iceland, Ireland, Norway, Poland, United Kingdom, and throughout Canada, New Zealand, and the United States.