UofSC experts: 2022 hurricane season
Posted on: April 29, 2022; Updated on: April 29, 2022
By Amanda Hernandez, hernan56@mailbox.sc.edu
The Atlantic hurricane season officially begins June 1. Researchers at the University
of South Carolina are available to discuss multiple aspects of the 2022 hurricane
season, including forecasting, disaster planning and historical perspectives. To coordinate
an interview, contact the staff member listed with the entry.
Post-storm health hazards
Jill Michels, managing director of the Palmetto Poison Center, can discuss health threats that
arise during after hurricane, such as the risk of food-borne illness from eating spoiled
food. In addition, she can address carbon monoxide poisoning, which can occur when
generators are used improperly. The Palmetto Poison Center is staffed by toxicology
experts who provide free advice to South Carolina residents about exposure to poisonous
materials.
News contact: Christina Derienzo, derienzo@poison.sc.edu, 803-394-7279
Preparing medication for evacuation
Jill Michels, managing director of the Palmetto Poison Center, can discuss the risk of ingestion
by children from improperly contained medications as well as the need for health care
providers to have accurate information about a patient’s medications in case of extended
displacement. Although it may be tempting to consolidate medicine into a single container
during an evacuation, keeping pills in their original bottle is important for medication
safety.
News contact: Christina Derienzo, derienzo@poison.sc.edu, 803-394-7279
Impact of intense wind and precipitation
Jean Taylor Ellis, professor of geography with an affiliation with the School of the Earth, Ocean and
Environment, investigates the effects of wind, waves and King Tides on the coastal
environment. She can discuss the impact of storms and humans on shorelines. Ellis
oversees the university’s Wind-Induced Nearshore Dynamics lab, which has been surveying
the coast of South Carolina for seven years. Ellis was on South Carolina’s DHEC-OCRM’s
Jurisdictional Line Stakeholder Workgroup and contributed to the Governor’s Floodwater
Commission Report. She is the current technical advisor to SC Beach Advocates.
News contact: Bryan Gentry, brgentry@sc.edu
Hurricanes' impact on oceans
Subra Bulusu is a professor of satellite oceanography and physical oceanography and head of the
Satellite Oceanography Laboratory in the School of the Earth, Ocean and Environment.
He can discuss a hurricane's impact on oceans using remote-sensing techniques, satellite
oceanography and ocean modeling. He served (2017-2020) as committee member for the
Gulf Research Program of the National Academies of Science, Engineering and Medicine.
He is on NOAA's extreme events ocean observations task team.
News contact: Bryan Gentry, brgentry@sc.edu
Recreating U.S. hurricane history
Cary Mock, professor of geography and a climatologist, has reconstructed a hurricane history
for South Carolina and other areas of the Atlantic and Gulf coasts, and for typhoons
that impacted Hawaii and East Asian countries. Mock, who's research is funded by NOAA,
can discuss the meteorological characteristics, climate, tracks and forecasting aspects
of hurricanes. By studying 18th- and 19th-century plantation records, newspapers,
diaries, ship logbooks and early meteorological records, Mock created a perspective
on hurricanes during the last several hundred years, which provides a better understanding
of their patterns and the relationship between hurricanes and climate change.
News contact: Bryan Gentry, brgentry@sc.edu
Preparedness and policy
Brett Robertson, an assistant professor in the School of Journalism and Mass Communications, studies
disaster preparedness and prevention communication. He can discuss barriers vulnerable
and marginalized populations face during these crises and how emerging technologies
can mediate them, and how do people use social media and mobile devices to seek help
from first responders when natural disasters hit.
News contact: J. Scott Parker, j.scottparker@sc.edu , 803-777-2696
Susan Cutter, Carolina Distinguished Professor of geography, is director of the university's Hazards
Vulnerability and Resilience Research Institute, one of the country's top facilities
for integrating hazards research with geospatial information. Cutter can discuss emergency
preparedness, response and recovery, social vulnerability to hazards and disasters,
and the impact of storms as a function of community vulnerability and resilience and
long-term recovery in communities. Cutter and colleagues at the institute conducted
a survey of evacuation behavior from Hurricane Matthew in South Carolina, Georgia
and Florida and monitored long-term recovery along the Mississippi coast after Hurricane
Katrina.
News contact: Bryan Gentry, brgentry@sc.edu
Shannon A. Bowen, professor in the College of Information and Communications, studies how emergency
management agencies use social media to keep the public informed and quell misinformation
through a National Science Foundation grant and other studies. She can discuss the
challenges these agencies face during floods, hurricanes and other disasters. She
can also share recommendations for national, state and local agencies for their disaster
communication and recovery efforts.
News contact: J. Scott Parker, j.scottparker@sc.edu , 803-777-2696
Impact of storms on coastal ecology, salt marshes and water quality
James Pinckney is a marine ecologist, professor in the School of the Earth, Ocean and Environment
and director of the Belle W. Baruch Institute for Marine and Coastal Sciences near
Georgetown, South Carolina. He studies how marine ecosystems work and can discuss
storms’ impact on microalgae and estuarine systems.
News contact: Bryan Gentry, brgentry@sc.edu, 803-576-7650
Risk management and insurance
Robert Hartwig is a finance professor in the Darla Moore School of Business and one of the nation’s
leading authorities on insurance. He can discuss risk assessment, insurance pricing
and public policy issues related to insurance for coastal residents and businesses.
Specific topics include catastrophe modeling, catastrophe bonds, catastrophe reinsurance,
and the National Flood Insurance Program. Hartwig was previously president of Insurance
Information Institute and is frequently sought by national media for insights and
economic analysis in the insurance industry.
News contact: Marjorie Riddle Duffie, marjorie.duffie@moore.sc.edu, 803-576-7337.
Financial impacts and bank borrowing capacity
Ai He, assistant professor of finance at the Darla Moore School of Business, researches
the financial impact of natural disasters on bank borrowing capacity and how natural
disasters and climate change can impact corporate loan pricing and interest rates.
She can discuss the impact of natural disasters on banks and how climate change impacts
finance.
News contact: Marjorie Riddle Duffie, marjorie.duffie@moore.sc.edu, 803-576-7337.
Homeownership
Crystal Zahn and Tamara Sheldon are associate professors of economics at the Darla Moore School of Business. Part
of Zhan and Sheldon's joint research examines how natural disasters can impact the
economic decisions of households in the years after the disaster, such as homeownership,
migration and expenditures. They can discuss these impacts of natural disasters on
individuals' housing and financial choices.
News contact: Marjorie Riddle Duffie, marjorie.duffie@moore.sc.edu, 803-576-7337.
Economic impact of storms in tourist destinations and tourism crisis management
Rich Harrill and Drew Martin, professors in the School of Hotel, Restaurant and Tourism Management, can discuss
the impact of natural disasters on tourism as canceled vacation plans and lost tourism
dollars have short-term and lasting economic effects. The two also can discuss how
businesses in storm-threatened areas prepare for and recover from storms, and how
the possibility of damage affects business plans,
News contact: Allen Wallace, awallace@sc.edu, 803-777-5667
Scott Smith, assistant professor in the School of Hotel, Restaurant and Tourism Management, is
widely recognized as a leading expert on theme parks. He can discuss the impact of
storms on parks and other tourist destinations. He also provides consulting to the
hotel, resort and theme park industries.
News contact: Allen Wallace, awallace@sc.edu, 803-777-5667
Ashley Schroeder is an assistant professor in the School of Hotel, Restaurant and Tourism Management
and research lead of the Crisis Management Working Group in the Richardson Family
SmartState Center for Economic Excellence in Tourism and Economic Development. She
can discuss tourism crisis management and travel-risk perceptions. She was interviewed
by the World Travel and Tourism Council as an expert in tourism crisis management
and was quoted in the council's Crisis Preparedness, Management and Recovery report.
News contact: Allen Wallace, awallace@sc.edu, 803-777-5667
Lori Pennington-Gray is director of the Richardson Family SmartState Center for Economic Excellence in
Tourism and Economic Developmen. She focuses on enhancing the industry and aiding
in strategic policy decisions by converting research into practice. Pennington-Gray
can discuss tourism crisis management. Her work has been featured in numerous national
media outlets.
News contact: Allen Wallace, awallace@sc.edu, 803-777-5667
Law and policies of adapting to climate impacts
Nathan Richardson, assistant professor in the School of Law, specializes in environmental and energy
law, especially the law and policy of climate change. He can discuss local, regional
and national laws and policies aimed at adaptation to climate impacts, including sea
level rise and extreme weather events, and the role of various levels of government
and agencies in disaster response.
News contact: Andersen Cook, cookea2@mailbox.sc.edu, 803-777-8058
Legal issues and ramifications surrounding hurricane damage
Josh Eagle, Solomon Blatt Professor of Law, specializes in natural resources and coastal law
and can discuss environmental-policy implications and regulatory requirements related
to hurricanes. Eagle, an authority on coastal law, which encompasses land use and
development, property and preservation of natural resources, wrote the first textbook
devoted to the subject of coastal law, released in 2011.
News contact: Andersen Cook, cookea2@mailbox.sc.edu, 803-777-8058
Susan Kuo, associate dean for academic affairs and law professor, studies disaster law and
policy, focusing on issues of vulnerability and social justice. She can discuss consideration
of inequalities that exacerbate vulnerabilities to disaster harm and issues pertaining
to access to resources in the wake of disaster.
News contact: Andersen Cook, cookea2@mailbox.sc.edu, 803-777-8058
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