UH professors and award-winning researchers can discuss a range of topics relevant to the media and the general public. Among the subjects they can address are politics, elections, energy, health care, education, law, popular culture and more. Many of these seasoned professors have been featured on national news outlets and are prepared to assist reporters through on-camera or phone interviews.
ENERGY & CARBON MANAGEMENT
Charles McConnell is a subject-matter expert in carbon capture, utilization and storage, and carbon management technologies, policies and business. He has 35 years of energy industry experience including national laboratories management and running the Mid-West Regional Carbon Sequestration Partnership.
GRIEF & LOSS
Rheeda Walker, professor of psychology and director of the Culture, Risk and Resilience Lab can talk about the impact of grief. “In the short-term, grief can feel like insurmountable sadness, emptiness and loss. Life as it once was is no more.”
POLICYMAKING PROCESS & INTERNATIONAL POLITICS
Pablo Pinto is the director of the Center for Public Policy in the Hobby School of Public Affairs. His areas of expertise include international and comparative political economy, comparative politics and quantitative methods.
MIDDLE EAST
Associate professor and program director of Middle Eastern Studies, Emran El-Badawi is an expert on Arab intellectual history, early Islamic history and Qur’anic studies.
ENERGY, OIL & GAS
Ed Hirs is an energy economist and can discuss energy markets, energy policy including taxes and tariffs, and a range of issues related to oil and gas production, as well as the ways in which energy prices affect the broader economy.
ENERGY ECONOMICS
Bill Gilmer is director of the Institute for Regional Forecasting (IRF) at the University of Houston’s Bauer College of Business. IRF monitors the Houston and Gulf Coast business cycle, analyzing how oil markets, the national economy and global expansion influence the regional economy. Gilmer is also a UH Energy Fellow.
MYOPIA MANAGEMENT
Kathryn Richdale is associate professor and optometrist in the University Eye Institute. Richdale is an expert in using special treatments for myopia management in children, which slows down the progresson of nearsightedness to improve their overall eye health.
VOTER BEHAVIOR & STEREOTYPES
Elizabeth Simas is an associate professor in the Department of Political Science. She can speak to campaign strategy, gender stereotypes in campaigns and political psychology.
PUBLIC HEALTH DISPARITIES
Ezemenari M. Obasi is founder and director of the HEALTH Research Institute and director of Hwemunda Addictions and Health Disparities Laboratory. His range of expertise includes improving health in underserved communities, obesty and Type 2 diabetes prevention programs, substance abuse and cultural predictors of health behaviors.
PUBLIC POLICY
Jim Granato can speak to a wide range of issues on American politics, political economy (focusing primarily on monetary policy issues) and American public policy. He is the Dean of the Hobby School of Public Affairs.