Derek Alkonis is currently a Research Program Manager at Underwriters Laboratories Inc. in the Fire Safety Research Institute, a position held since August 2021. Prior to this role, Derek served as an Assistant Fire Chief for the Los Angeles County Fire Department from October 1990 to August 2021. Earlier in their career, Derek was a high school science teacher and football coach at the Los Angeles Unified School District from 1988 to 1989. Derek earned a Bachelor of Arts in Biology from UC San Diego between 1983 and 1987 and pursued further studies at California State University-Dominguez Hills in 1988-1989.