hurricane season began june 1 and the following experts from within the college of geosciences at texas a&m university are available to discuss hurricanes and related issues for experts in other fields see the full texas a&m hurricane expert guide how hurricanes form storm severity john nielsen-gammon regents professor of atmospheric sciences texas a&m university college of geosciences nielsen-gammon serves as texas state climatologist and is an expert on severe storms how hurricanes form the history of texas hurricanes rapid formation of hurricanes in the gulf of mexico and the history of severe storms and hurricanes in the past 150 years contact: (979) 862-2248 or n-g@tamuedu tim logan: instructional assistant professor of atmospheric sciences in the texas a&m university college of geosciences logan is an expert in severe storms the formation of storms and lightning and the damage caused by severe storms and hurricanes contact: (979) 845-2004 or tlogan52@tamuedu robert korty associate professor of atmospheric sciences texas a&m university college of geosciences korty is an expert on how hurricanes affect oceans and how climate affects hurricanes contact: (979) 847-9090 or korty@tamuedu courtney schumacher: professor of atmospheric sciences in the texas a&m university college of geosciences schumacher is an expert in tropical meteorology large mesoscale convective systems radar meteorology and mesoscale-climate interactions contact: (979) 845-5522 or cschu@tamuedu structural damage water damage off-shore structures christine hale: texas sea grant oil spill science extension specialist at texas a&m university - corpus christi hale has expertise in the offshore oil industry regulations and practices impacts of oil spills on the coastal and marine environment methods to contain and clean-up spills and emergency response contact: (361)825-6215 or hale@tamuedu brent mcroberts research assistant professor of geography texas a&m university college of geosciences mcroberts is an expert in power outage prediction modeling which gives forecasts of how many utility customers will lose power during and after a hurricane contact: (979) 845-6075 or mcrobert@tamuedu environmental and ecosystem effects of hurricanes shari yvon-lewis professor and department head in the department of oceanography texas a&m university college of geosciences yvon-lewis is an expert in chemical oceanography trace gas biogeochemistry and has conducted extensive post-hurricane research in galveston bay contact: (979) 458-1816 or syvon-lewis@oceantamuedu jessica fitzsimmons oceanography assistant professor texas a&m university college of geosciences fitzsimmons is an expert in chemical oceanography and biogeochemistry she has conducted extensive post-hurricane research in galveston bay contact: (979) 845-5137 or jessfitz@tamuedu anthony knap director of gerg and professor of oceanography texas a&m university college of geosciences knap is an expert in effects of contaminants on marine environments ocean health and human health interactions he also co-leads the texas a&m superfund contact: (979) 458-9328 or tknap@tamuedu lisa campbell professor of oceanography texas a&m university college of geosciences campbell is an expert in biological oceanography phytoplankton ecology and harmful algal blooms; she is well-versed in the effects hurricanes can have on ecosystems contact: (979) 845-5706 or lisacampbell@tamuedu - jason sylvan assistant professor of oceanography in the texas a&m university college of geosciences sylvan is an expert in biological oceanography: microbial ecology geomicrobiology deep biosphere hydrocarbon microbiology and can discuss the short-term and long-term effects of hurricanes on environments and ecosystems including coral reefs contact: (979) 845-5105 or jasonsylvan@tamuedu kathryn shamberger assistant professor of oceanography in the texas a&m university college of geosciences shamberger is an expert in chemical oceanography ocean acidification and seawater carbonate chemistry as well as the short-term and long-term effects of hurricanes on environments and ecosystems including coral reefs contact: (979) 845-5752 or shamberger@tamuedu steve dimarco: professor of oceanography and team leader for ocean observing in the geochemical and environmental research group at texas a&m in the texas a&m university college of geosciences dimarco is an expert in ocean observing systems and data as well as the short-term and long-term effects of hurricanes on environments and ecosystems including coral reefs contact: (979) 862-4168 or sdimarco@tamuedu warnings recovery and resilient coastal communities heather wade: senior associate director texas sea grant college program co-director community resilience collaborative (crc) wade is an expert in environmental hazards management hazard mitigation post-disaster redevelopment planning and evaluating how well communities are prepared for and can recover from hurricanes she co-leads the crc a research-and-extension-based planning program to increase the resilience of the states coastal communities to natural hazards and to enhance or restore their habitats and ecosystems contact: (361) 205-7503 or hwade@tamuedu hurricanes and marine life seafood laura picariello: extension fisheries specialist texas sea grant picariello has experience working with commercial fisheries both in texas and across the gulf of mexico contact: lpicariello@seagranttamuedu andrew ropicki assistant professor and texas sea grant marine economics extension specialist ropicki can comment on assessments of storm impacts on fishing infrastructure (vessels docks processing equipment etc) and on sessile fisheries (oysters) contact: (361) 825-6210 or ropicki@agtamuedu for more information contact: robyn blackmon texas a&m college of geosciences communications manager (979) 845-6324 or robynblackmon@tamuedu; or leslie lee texas a&m college of geosciences communications coordinator (979) 845-0910 or leslielee@tamuedu