Media Tip Sheet: Colorado State University Experts on Variety of Topics Surrounding Japan Disaster

Note to Reporters: Colorado State University experts are available to discuss different aspects of the Japan crisis. The contact information is intended to provide resources to reporters and editors and is not intended for the public. To arrange interviews, contact Kimberly Sorensen at (970) 491-0757 or Kimberly.Sorensen@colostate.edu.

Social impacts of disasters
Lori Peek, assistant professor of sociology and co-director of the Center for Disaster and Risk Analysis at Colorado State, is an expert in the social impacts of disaster. Peek serves as associate chair for the Social Science Research Council Task Force on Katrina and Rebuilding the Gulf Coast and is a former National Institute of Mental Health Disaster Research Fellow. She has conducted field research in New York City in the aftermath of 9/11, in New Orleans following Hurricane Katrina and in New Zealand following the 2011 Christchurch earthquake. She recently guest edited a special issue of the journal Children, Youth and Environments on the topic of children and disasters. Peek can answer questions related to emotional and social impacts of disaster on vulnerable populations including children, the elderly, women, people with disabilities and the poor. She can also speak more broadly to recent national and global patterns regarding the prevalence of disaster events, the populations most affected and long-term effects. To speak with Peek, contact Kimberly Sorensen at (970) 491-0757 or Kimberly.Sorensen@colostate.edu.

Nature of earthquakes
Derek Schutt, assistant professor in the Department of Geosciences, can speak about major earthquakes, aftershocks and deep-Earth structure. To speak with Schutt, contact Kimberly Sorensen at (970) 491-0757 or Kimberly.Sorensen@colostate.edu.

Nuclear politics
Bob Duffy, chair of CSU’s Political Science Department, has expertise in commercial nuclear power in the United States and political forces that affect nuclear policy in this country. His book, “Nuclear Politics in America: A History and Theory of Government Regulation,” won the Lynton Caldwell Award for best book in environmental politics and policy. That book charted nuclear power regulation in the U.S. from World War II through the mid-1990s. He has followed it since then as well—and has a piece in a forthcoming Environmental Policy journal on the prospects for nuclear power as a serious solution to climate change. Additionally, he can discuss topics surrounding reactors themselves, spent reactor fuel (stored on site in Japan and in most U.S. reactor sites) and reactor economics. To speak with Duffy, contact Kimberly Sorensen at (970) 491-0757 or Kimberly.Sorensen@colostate.edu.

Rebuilding water infrastructure
Larry Roesner, a renowned urban water management expert at Colorado State, can talk about Chile’s efforts to rebuild their water infrastructure in the wake of the earthquake and tsunami that hit Chile in 2010. Roesner traveled to Chile as a Senior Fulbright Scholar to help business and university officials develop a plan for state-of-the-art water and wastewater treatment design practices. To speak with Roesner, contact Kimberly Sorensen at (970) 491-0757 or Kimberly.Sorensen@colostate.edu.

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