Contact Media Relations

Contact the Office of Media Relations for any questions or comments at 305-284-5500.

Earthquake Experts

Tim Dixon, Ph.D.
Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science
Tim Dixon, Ph.D., professor of marine geology and geophysics at the Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science, and co-director of CSTARS, Center for Southeast Tropical Advanced Remote Sensing, is a world-renowned expert on plate tectonics, the geological processes that cause earthquakes, volcanoes, tsunamis and coastal subsidence, and space-based measurements of these processes. Dr. Dixon is available to discuss a wide range of geologic topics on these and related natural hazards. In 1998 he wrote an paper describing the hazards of Earthquakes in Haiti.
Office: 305-421-4660
Cellular: 786-473-3476
Lab: 305-421-4928
t.dixon@miami.edu

Dr. Shimon Wdowinski, Ph. D.
Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science
Associate professor of geology, geophysics at the Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science, works on the development and usage of space geodetic techniques that can detect very small movements of the Earth’s surface. He successfully applies these technologies to study natural hazards and environmental phenomena, such as earthquakes, landslides, and wetland surface flow. Dr. Wdowinski can speak about the earthquake deformation cycle, understanding when, where, and why an earthquake occurs in seismically active areas, seismo-tectonics of specific regions, in particular: California, the Andes, the Eastern Mediterranean, the Caucasus, and Sumatra and seismic hazard and risk, the probability assessment of earthquake occurrence in populated areas and their damage potential. Dr. Wdowinski teaches a class on natural hazards and disasters called ‘Natural disasters: Hollywood versus reality’.
Office: 305-421-4730
shimonw@rsmas.miami.edu

Haiti Experts

Nilda Peragallo, Ph.D.
School of Nursing and Health Studies
Dean and Professor
Dean of the School of Nursing and Health Studies. Nursing international programs include assessing needs in rural areas and establishing actions plans for the future, administering immunizations, providing prevention and education sessions on health care to local inhabitants and training local nurses.

• Haiti
• Chile
• Mexico

Office: 305-284-2107

J. Bryan Page, Ph.D.
College of Arts and Sciences
Professor & Director, Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Center for Sociocultural Research, Treatment & Community Projects
Dr. Page specializes in studying the consumption of drugs, focusing particularly on recently arrived immigrant populations.  He is currently participating in five related projects, including a project on family intervention for prevention of drug abuse among Haitian and African-American youth, a study of Haitian gangs, a study of the relationship between intravenous drug use and spread of HIV, and two projects to lower HIV risks in high-risk groups. 
Office: 305-284-6045

Louis Herns Marcelin, Ph.D.
College of Arts and Sciences
Professor, Department of Anthropology
Director of Research and co-founder of the Family and Youth Community Research Center, Inc; Principal Investigator for the Haitian Adolescent Study at the Department of Anthropology. Research areas include Haitian youth gangs and delinquency in Miami-Dade, Florida and the increasing involvement of the juvenile justice system in the lives of Haitian adolescents and their families; Family, Kinship, and Politics as well as on Uses and Memories of Political Violence in Haiti and Brazil.
Office: 305-284-8493
lmarcel2@med.miami.edu

Marlene L. Daut, Ph.D.
College of Arts and Sciences
Assistant Professor, English
Dr. Daut specializes in eighteenth- and nineteenth-century transatlantic studies with a particular focus on Haitian, French, and American literatures. Her most recent work examines the relationship between the Haitian Revolution and scientific theories of race. She has been the recipient of an Erskine A. Peters-Reid Dissertation Fellowship and a Ford Dissertation Fellowship. An article that she co-wrote with Karen Richman (Notre Dame) recently appeared in the journal Small Axe. Her current project is entitled Science of Desire: Race and Representations of the Haitian Revolution in the Atlantic World, 1790-1865.
Office: 305-284-4074

Kate Ramsey
College of Arts and Sciences
Assistant Professor, Department of History
Research focuses on colonial and postcolonial Caribbean, with a particular focus histories (politics of law, religion, and performance.) Caribbean intellectual history and cultural movements; the transnational impact of the Haitian Revolution; and the legacies of penal and ecclesiastical laws against popular religious practices in Haiti.
Office: 305-284-5581
kramsey@miami.edu

Elizabeth Iglesias
School of Law
Professor of law, teaches immigration law.
Professor Iglesias holds a BA (magna cum laude) from the University of Michigan and a JD (with honors) from Yale Law School. She is the co-founder of Latina and Latino Critical Theory, Inc. (LatCrit, Inc.) which she incorporated in 1998 and co-directed until 2003. In 1997, she designed the Project for Legal Economic, Development, Justice and Equality (PLEDJE) an innovative clinical program to promote micro-business development, immigrant rights & the use of NAFTA labor and environmental side accords through workshops, community based study circles and outreach to underprivileged high school students. The PLEDJE project became the blueprint for and continues today as incorporated by the law school’s Center for Ethics and Public Service. In 2000, she was recognized for her dedication and outstanding contributions to public service and to the citizens of Miami-Dade County as a founding member of the Miami-Dade County Commission on Ethics and Public Trust, to which she was then reappointed for a second term from 2000-2004.
Office: 305-284-4080

Irwin P. Stotzky
School of Law
Professor of Law, Human Rights
Prof. Stotzky is currently Professor of Law at the University of Miami School of Law and the Director of the University of Miami Center for the Study of Human Rights. He is the founder and Director of the University of Miami Center for the Study of Human Rights, Director of the Soia Mentschikoff Legal Research and Writing Program, and Acting Director of the James Weldon Johnson/Robert H. Waters Summer Institute. He is a founding member of the Institute for Justice and Democracy in Haiti, a human rights institute that researches and distributes objective and accurate information on the human rights conditions in Haiti.
(305) 284-2549
istotzky@miami.edu

David Abraham
School of Law
Professor of Law
Prof. Abraham can discuss issues related to the Cuban Adjustment Act, Haitian and other refugee flows, guest worker programs, and the relationship of immigration to American labor.
Office: 305-284-5535
      
Walter Secada, Ph.D.
School of Education
Senior Associate Dean,Professor and Chair, Teaching and Learning
Associate director and Co-PI of Promoting Science among English Language Learners (P-SELL) with a High-Stakes Testing Environment, a quasi-experimental study on effective science instruction for Haitian-Creole or Spanish-speaking third through fifth graders; associate director and co-PI of Science Made Sensible a fellowship training program that pairs doctoral students in the STEM fields (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) with middle-school teachers. Prof. Secada is an expert on bilingual education, migrant education, and/or American Indian education. As director of the U.S. Department of Education’s Hispanic Dropout Project, he was senior author of its final report, No More Excuses , which was released at a White House press conference by then-Vice President Gore and Secretary of Education Riley.
Office: 305-284-4961

Guerda Nicolas, Ph.D
School of Education
Chair of Educational and Psychological Studies
Dr. Nicolas is the new Chair of Educational and Psychological Studies (EPS) at the School of Education.   This year, under her leadership the department launched a research and service program called the Kulula Project, named for a Swahili word that means to excel. The 14-week curriculum is aimed at enhancing ethnic identity, primarily for black students from first grade through high school.
Office: 305-284-9124
nguerda@miami.edu

Susan K. Purcell
Director, Center for Hemispheric Policy
Areas of Expertise: Latin American and the Caribbean economic trade, investment and political issues, Latin American/U.S. relations. Expertise areas include: U.S. and OAS involvement and concern about Haitian elections, political forces in Haiti fighting against free elections and history of Haitian politics and divergence from democratic models.
Office: 305-284-9830
Cellular: 917-224-2712 
skpurcell@miami.edu
*Speaks English and Spanish

Yves Colon
School of Communication
Lecturer, Journalism
Yves Colon has been in the journalism industry for more than 20 years, working for a number of organizations including The Associated Press, The Miami Herald and the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation. Colon taught at the University of Missouri School of Journalism, where he also served as director of the Multicultural Management Program. Colon also co-founded The Haitian Times, the only English-language newspaper in the United States serving Haitian communities and served as editor for that publication.
Office: 305-284-3752
Cellular: 305-766-1035
ycolon@miami.edu

Michael Connolly
School of Business
Professor of Economics
Michael Connolly is a professor of Economics whose areas of specialty include international finance, trade and development, as well as currency boards and exchange speculation. He looks at the effect of currency boards and/or dollarization on risk premia in emerging markets. He holds a B.A. in Economics from the University of California at Berkeley (Phi Beta Kappa),
June, 1964; an M.A. in Economics from the University of Chicago, June 1967; and a Ph.D. in Economics from the University of Chicago, June 1969. He was recently quoted in Miami Herald story (Nov. 25, 2008) about whether the government should provide funding to Florida schools in a bailout similar to the Wall Street rescue plans.
Office: 305-284-4898
mconnolly@miami.edu

Christopher Cotton
School of Business
Professor of Economics
Christopher Cotton is an assistant professor of Economics. His specialty areas include political economics, game theory and experimental economics. His areas of research include lobbying, auctions & competitions, and information. Cotton's blog, "Interesting Economics," focuses on microeconomics research that even non-economists might enjoy — http://www.interestingeconomics.com/. He received a B.A. from Michigan State University, and an M.A. and Ph.D from Cornell University.
Office: 305-284-4064
cotton@miami.edu

Tal Gross
School of Business
Assistant professor of economics
Areas of specialty include health economics, labor economics and applied econometrics. He closely studies health insurance, health care consumption, consumer bankruptcy and consumer finances. He holds a BA in Mathematics, Economics and Statistics from the University of Chicago and a PhD in Economics from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
Office: 305-284-4742
talgross@miami.edu

Haresh Gurnani
School of Business
Department chair and professor of management
His specialty areas include operations management, supply chain and logistics management, business process analysis and marketing and operations interface. His research focuses on supply chain management, game theory applications and interface issues with economics and marketing. He holds a BE from the Indian Institute of Technology, and an MS and a PhD from Carnegie Mellon University.
Office: 305-284-4712
haresh@miami.edu

Terri A. Scandura
School of Business
Professor of management
Also serves as the dean of Graduate Education at the University of Miami. Her specialty areas include organizational behavior and leadership and motivation. Her research focuses on work relationships—enhancing personal and organizational performance, including supervisor-subordinate relationships, mentoring, teams and networks. She received a BBA and a PhD from the University of Cincinnati.
Office: 305- 284-3746
scandura@miami.edu

Ronald F. Zollo, Ph. D., P.E.
College of Engineering
Professor of Civil, Architectural, and Environmental Engineering
Dr. Zollo can talk about the effect of earthquakes on buildings and structures. He is a Certified Structural Engineer and is active on several national committees of ACI and ASTM specializing in structural engineering and construction materials engineering, including disaster events and loadings, structural and materials testing, design and analysis.
Office: 305-284-3490
Cell phone: 786-299-6724
rzollo@eng.miami.edu

Denis Hector, R.A. LEED AP
School of Architecture
Associate dean
He has investigated issues related to natural hazards and the built environment since Hurricane Andrew in 1992.  He produced Hurricane Hazard Mitigation, edited with Beth Dunlop, in which he outlines a "Five-Point Disaster Plan” and participated in the Mississippi Renewal Forum charrette after Hurricane Katrina. He is available to discuss the type of structures and urban planning that would be most appropriate in the reconstruction of Haiti. Denis Hector is available for interviews by phone.
Mobile phone: 305-987-7531
dhector@miami.edu

Medical Campus Experts

Contact the Miller School of Medicine Office of Communications at 305-243-3249.

Haiti Experts

Michel Dodard, M.D.
Miller School of Medicine
Dr. Dodard, associate professor of family medicine at the Miller School of Medicine, has been taking medical students on medical missions to his native Haiti for 15 years. He is in constant touch with medical personnel in Port-au-Prince and plans to go to Haiti at the appropriate time.
Office: 305-243-2847

Arthur Fournier, M.D.
Miller School of Medicine
Dr. Fournier, professor of family medicine at the Miller School of Medicine, has worked in Haiti for more than two decades and is one of the co-founders of Project Medishare.
Office: 305-243-2847

Barth Green, M.D.
Miller School of Medicine
Dr. Green, professor and chair of neurological surgery, is also a co-founder of Project Medishare and has worked for more than two decades in Haiti.
Office: 305-243-3254

Infectious Disease Experts

We have an entire list of infectious disease experts who can talk about disease outbreaks following a disaster of this type, and everything else from no water to no sanitation, etc.

Gordon Dickinson, M.D.
Chief, Division of Infectious Diseases
Professor of Medicine
Office: 305-575-3267

Rafael Campo, M.D.
Department of Medicine
Professor of Clinical Medicine
Office: 305-243-3006

Lilian Abbo, M.D.
Department of Medicine
Assistant Professor of Clinical Medicine
Co-Director, Antimicrobial Stewardship Program
Office: 305-243-4598

Sylvia Munoz-Price, M.D.
Department of Medicine
Associate Professor of Clinical Medicine
Office: 305-585-6820

Psychiatric Experts

There promises to be post traumatic stress problems and other anxiety issues among victims and family members here in Miami. We have several experts who can address these issues.

Charles Nemeroff, M.D.
Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences
Miller Professor & Chair

Jon Shaw, M.D.
Department of Psychiatry & Behavioral Sciences
Professor and Chief, Division of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry
Office: 305-355-9028

Alan Delamater, Ph.D.
Department of Pediatrics
Professor of Pediatrics and Psychology
Director, Clinical Psychology
Office: 305-243-6857

Disaster Relief Expert

Sherri Porcelain
College of Arts and Sciences
Instructor, International Studies
Sherri L. Porcelain, adjunct professor in the Department of International Studies and director of the disaster research program for global public health program at the University of Miami. Additionally, she is an adjunct faculty member in the Department of Epidemiology and Public Health at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine since1989. Professor Porcelain's teaching and research focuses on public health in world affairs and includes recent projects on disaster mitigation, program evaluation, injury prevention, and public health challenges in Latin America, Middle East, South East Asia and the United States. She serves as a consultant to local, national, and international organizations and brings the experiential and theoretical examination of human security challenges into the classroom setting.
Office: 305-284-3128

Intellectual Property / Internet Expert

Patricia Abril
School of Business
Assistant Professor, Business Law
Specialties:
International Business Law
Intellectual Property
Legal and Regulatory Environment of Business
Office: 305-284-6999