The following UC Davis faculty members are available to speak on topics related to the year's anniversary of Hurricane Katrina and its aftermath.

• Rebuilding New Orleans
• Race and rumors post-Katrina
• Effect on immigrants
• Global climate change
• Investor reactions
• Fuel availability and prices

REBUILDING NEW ORLEANS -- Environmental historian Ari Kelman has been involved in the ongoing national discussion about the causes and consequences of the Katrina tragedy. He has also been an active participant in the debate about rebuilding the city. Author of the 2003 book "A River and Its City: The Nature of Landscape in New Orleans," Kelman can discuss how the development of New Orleans set up a situation in which Hurricane Katrina became "a disaster waiting to happen." In his book, Kelman discusses the conflict between public and private control of the river, and describes how floods, disease and evolving technology have impacted the river and the city. Contact: Ari Kelman, History, (530) 752-1634, akelman@ucdavis.edu.

RACE AND RUMORS POST-KATRINA -- In the past year, folklore authority Patricia Turner has been focusing on rumors generated by Hurricane Katrina. The UC Davis professor of African American and African studies can talk about persistent urban legends about African Americans during Katrina and its aftermath from both black and white perspectives. Turner will travel to New Orleans for the Aug. 29 hurricane anniversary to give guest lectures on Katrina lore for college students who are reading her books on rumor and race in America. She is the author of three books, "Whispers on the Color Line: Rumor and Race in America," co-written with Gary Allan Fine; "Ceramic Uncles and Celluloid Mammies: Black Images and Their Influence on Culture"; and "I Heard It Through the Grapevine: Rumor in African American Culture." Contact: Patricia Turner, African American and African Studies, (530) 752-6068, paturner@ucdavis.edu.

EFFECT ON IMMIGRANTS -- "Federal, state and local governments treated immigrants harshly in the aftermath of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, and political failure within administration agencies contributed to this treatment," says Kevin Johnson, a professor of law and Chicana/o studies at UC Davis. A specialist in civil rights and immigration law, he is studying how immigrants were affected by the disaster. Hurricane Katrina is symptomatic of a more general problem in the governance of the United States, Johnson says. "A shadow population of millions of undocumented immigrants who are abused and exploited lack any formal input into the political process. They, as well as many lawful immigrants, are part of a low-wage caste of color." Johnson is author of "The 'Huddled Masses' Myth: Immigration and Civil Rights" and "How Did You Get to Be Mexican?" and is editor of "Mixed Race America: A Critical Reader." He holds leadership positions with Legal Services of Northern California and the Mexican American Legal Defense and Education Fund. Contact: Kevin Johnson, School of Law, (530) 752-0243, krjohnson@ucdavis.edu.

GLOBAL CLIMATE CHANGE -- A year after the event, evidence is mounting that Hurricane Katrina's power was driven in part by global climate change, says Paul Craig, professor emeritus of engineering at UC Davis. "New Orleans tells us loud and clear that its time to cut back on our carbon dioxide emissions. We owe it to our children," he says. Craig has worked as a physicist and researcher at the Los Alamos and Brookhaven National Laboratories. From 1970-75, he served under the President's Science Advisor as deputy director and acting director of the Office of Energy R&D Policy at the National Science Foundation. He joined the UC Davis Department of Applied Science in 1975. In 1997, he was appointed by President Clinton to the Nuclear Waste Technical Review Board, reviewing the feasibility of the proposed nuclear waste repository at Yucca Mountain, Nev. He resigned from the board in 2004. He is a member and former chairman of the Sierra Club's National Energy Committee. Contact: Paul Craig, (925) 370-9672 (fax), (925) 370-9729 (phone), ppcraig@ucdavis.edu.

INVESTOR REACTIONS -- Brad Barber, a professor in the Graduate School of Management at UC Davis, can comment on how investors react to dramatic events. He has published widely on the psychology of investing. Contact: Brad Barber, Graduate School of Management, (530) 752-0512, bmbarber@ucdavis.edu.

FUEL AVAILABILITY AND PRICES -- UC Davis economist Christopher Knittel can discuss the short- and long-term impacts of Hurricane Katrina on the price and availability of natural gas and oil. He studies transportation economics, especially how the various markets related to transportation function. A specialist in the economics of industrial organization, Knittel teaches about the various transportation industries: automobile, airline and oil. Contact: Christopher Knittel, Economics, (530) 752-3344, crknittel@ucdavis.edu.