AUSTIN, Texas One hundred miles from Fort Hood, The University of Texas at Austin has experts available who can offer insights to help understand Wednesday’s tragic shooting. This list will likely expand. Please check back for additions.
Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder
Howard Prince
Clinical Professor, LBJ School of Public Affairs
512-471-4303
hprince@austin.utexas.edu
Prince is the recipient of a lifetime achievement award from the American Psychology Association’s Military Psychology Society, in part for his research into post-traumatic stress disorder. Prince holds a Ph.D. in psychology from The University of Texas at Austin and the rank of brigadier general (ret.) in the United States Army.
Michael Telch
Professor, Department of Psychology
512-475-8488
telch@austin.utexas.edu
Telch is the principal investigator of the Texas Combat PTSD Risk Project, a study that seeks to determine factors that predispose service members to PTSD. He is available to discuss the psychological impact of mass shootings on victims, and the likelihood of them developing PTSD over time.
How Communities Cope with Tragedy
Kevin Stark
Professor, Department of Educational Psychology
512-471-0267
kstark@austin.utexas.edu
Stark is one of the top national experts on depression in youth and conducted the largest-ever study on intervention and treatment for females. He was called upon by New York City and New Orleans to develop procedures for dealing with youth after 9/11 and Hurricane Katrina. His depression treatment program has been adopted by Belgium and the Netherlands as the only state-approved procedure for addressing depression in youth.
Mary Steinhardt
Professor, Department of Kinesiology and Health Education
512-232-3535
msteinhardt@austin.utexas.edu
Steinhardt is a nationally recognized expert on resilience and has done studies on response to stress and anxiety with families at Fort Hood, Dell employees, college students and people suffering from diabetes.
Ricardo Ainslie
Professor, Department of Educational Psychology
512-471-0364
rainslie@austin.utexas.edu
Ainslie has done research on, and written books about, communities’ responses to tragedy. He has offered insights and expertise after tragedies like the Columbine shootings, the epidemic of drug-related killings in Mexico and the racially motivated murder of James Byrd in Jasper, Texas.
Marlone D. Henderson
Assistant Professor of Psychology
College of Liberal Arts
512-471-6447
hendersonm@psy.utexas.edu
Henderson is an expert on negotiation and compromise. His research examines the consequences of psychological distance and abstraction on people’s willingness to cooperate and compromise. He is available to discuss how psychological distance plays a key role in gun control arguments. He can also discuss coping strategies for mass shooting survivors and family members.
Gun Control
Jim Henson
Director, University of Texas at Austin/Texas Tribune poll; Director, Texas Politics Project; Lecturer, Department of Government
512-468-4113
j.henson@austin.utexas.edu
Josh Blank
Manager, Polling and Research at the Texas Politics Project
512-870-7414
joshmblank@gmail.com
Henson and Blank spearhead the gun control research arm of the Texas Politics Project. They are available to discuss Texans’ views on gun control. Their Texas Politics website includes a comprehensive graphic on gun control measures in Texas.
The Role of Social Media in Crises
Robert Quigley
Senior Lecturer, School of Journalism
512-471-0030
robert.quigley@austin.utexas.edu
A senior lecturer who focuses on new media, Quigley is an award-winning social media editor who has covered a number of major disasters. He has been quoted in Poynter Online, Nieman Journalism Lab, Mediabistro, the American Journalism Review and Mashable as an expert on social media and new media.
