UNT faculty members available to discuss topics related to aftermath of Hurricane Harvey

Friday, August 25, 2017 - 15:14

The following University of North Texas faculty members are available discuss topics related to flooding and damage in Houston and other Texas communities impacted by Hurricane Harvey

Michael Carroll is the director of the Economics Research Group and can discuss the economic aftermath and lingering effects of Hurricane Harvey.

 

Office phone: 940-565-4049

Cell phone: 419-308-9580

E-mail: Michael.Carroll@unt.edu

 

Jennifer Cowley is UNT's vice president and provost for academic affairs. She has extensive knowledge of city management as it relates to urban development/redevelopment, disaster science and emergency management. Prior to entering the higher education field, Cowley worked in city government in College Station and Amarillo and also has experience working with the Environmental Protection Agency. Cowley has conducted extensive, grant-funded research in the areas of urban development, resilient communities and hurricane recovery, and she participated in the planning for rebuilding the Mississippi coastal area after Hurricane Katrina.

 

To schedule an interview with her, contact Leigh Anne Gullett in the UNT News Service:

Cell phone: 210-259-7865

E-mail: leigh.gullett@unt.edu

 

Nicole Dash, associate dean of UNT's College of Health and Public Service and associate professor in the Department of Emergency Management and Disaster Science, will discuss long-term recovery of communities impacted by Hurricane/Tropical Storm Harvey, including issues related to sheltering, housing and disparities related to impact and recovery. She received National Science Foundation funding to study Hurricane Katrina evacuees as well as funding from the State of Florida to study recovery of Miami-Dade County after Hurricane Andrew in 1992. In 2005, she was the social science expert on a Congressionally-mandated study called "Mitigation Saves," which evaluated the cost-benefit of federal investments in mitigation. Dash currently works with an interdisciplinary team under the direction of the National Institute for Building Safety to update the project through 2016.

Dash will only do interviews by phone for radio and print and online media.

Cell phone: 940-206-7264

E-mail: dash@unt.edu

 

Michael Leeman is a clinical assistant professor in UNT's Department of Counseling and Higher Education. He can speak to his experience counseling people post-crisis.

 

Office phone: 940-565-2917

E-mail: Michael.Leeman@unt.edu

 

Yu-Luen Ma (pronounced Yu-Lin Mah) is a professor of risk management and insurance. Ma can discuss the difficulty individuals may have when filing insurance claims with private insurers, the efforts of private insurances to limit those claims related to storm damage and how the federal government and state governments can create market solutions to these problems.

 

Office phone: 940-565-2299

E-mail: Yu-luen.Ma@unt.edu

 

Wendy Middlemiss is an assistant professor in UNT's College of Education. She can discuss issues related to children such as disruption to their school schedules, stress from the hurricane, etc. Middlemiss is also able to provide portable safe infant sleepers to residents affected by the hurricane and continued flooding within a day or two of a request. She has done extensive research examining the effectiveness of portable sleepers for families with varying needs. 

E-mail: wendy.middlemiss@unt.edu

Cell phone: 724 977-3067

Office phone: 940 369-8870

 

Mary Nelan is an assistant professor in UNT's Department of Emergency Management and Disaster Science, She researches donations and volunteer behaviors following major disasters.

 

E-mail (best way to reach her): mary.nelan@unt.edu

Office phone: 940-369-7476

 

Nat Pope is an associate professor of risk management and insurance and can discuss the implications that Harvey-related flood claims will have on the National Flood Insurance Program and the level of involvement the private insurance market may assume moving forward.

 

Office phone: 940-565-4285

E-mail: Nat.Pope@unt.edu

 

Brian Sauser is the director of the Jim McNatt Institute for Logistics Research and can discuss the impact of severe weather on business logistics, transportation and the supply chain on distribution points in the path of Hurricane Harvey. The institute offers interactive simulation and 3-D modeling that helps companies solve complex challenges to the global supply chain, and weather is often among these challenges.

 

Office phone: 940-565-4693 (forwards to cell phone)

E-mail: brian.sauser@unt.edu

 

Dale Sharpe-Jenkins is a lecturer for UNT's risk management and insurance program and founder of The Jenkins Agency, Inc., an independent insurance brokerage firm. She can talk about the impact the hurricane will have on insurance rates and policy holder's property values. She states that policy holders everywhere, not just those who were in Hurricane Harvey's path, will feel the effects.

 

Office phone: (940) 565-3620

E-mail: Dale.SharpeJenkins@unt.edu

 

Ronald Schumann, assistant professor in the Department of Emergency Management and Disaster Science, will discuss recovery challenges of communities impacted by Hurricane Harvey and surrounding future mitigation and development.  In 2013, he received National Science Foundation funding to identify long-term recovery issues in the Mississippi counties of Hancock, Harrison and Jackson Counties and the cities of Biloxi, Pass Christian and Waveland following Hurricane Katrina. Schumann is a New Orleans native who was in Mobile, Alabama, when Katrina approached, and evacuated to Montgomery, Alabama, to ride out the storm with family who came from New Orleans.

 

Office phone: 940-565-2996

E-mail: ronald.schumann@unt.edu

 

Laura Siebeneck is an associate professor in the Department of Emergency Management and Disaster Science She is part of a National Science Foundation-funded group of researchers from several universities that is examining communities’ recovery and resilience following Hurricane Sandy in 2012, as well as individuals’ return to their communities and recovery. She will discuss hurricane evacuation, preparedness, and return-entry.

 

Cell phone: 210-535-4098

E-mail: laura.siebeneck@unt.edu

 

Gary Webb is the chair of the Department of Emergency Management and Disaster Science. He has conducted extensive research on organizational preparedness for and response to numerous disasters in the United States and abroad. He will discuss the challenges of responding to large-scale disasters and the role of citizen responders, including the Cajun Navy.  

 

Cell phone: 817-832-8461

E-mail: gary.webb@unt.edu

UNT News Service
News_Service@unt.edu
(940) 565-2108