Experts by Expertise: Buffalo/Western New York

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For help reaching an expert on deadline, please contact UB's media relations team at 716-645-6969 or ub-news@buffalo.edu.

Note to members of the news media:

The correct name of the university is “University at Buffalo,” not “University of Buffalo.”

  • Head shot of John D. Atkinson, University at Buffalo sustainability and air pollution expert.
    10/30/24

    John D. Atkinson

    Associate Professor of Civil, Structural and Environmental Engineering

    Expertise: sustainability, greenhouse gas emissions, air and water pollution control, materials science and engineering, adsorption, life-cycle assessment

    Phone: 716-645-4001

    Email: atkjdw@buffalo.edu

  • Head shot of Joseph Atkinson.
    8/2/22

    Joseph Atkinson

    Director of the Great Lakes Program

    Expertise: Great Lakes water levels, flooding and water pollution

    Phone: 716-645-2220

    Email: atkinson@buffalo.edu

  • Head shot of Elizabeth Bowen.
    4/12/23

    Elizabeth Bowen

    Associate Professor of Social Work

    Expertise: homelessness, health issues affecting homeless populations, recovery from alcohol and other drug problems

    Phone: 716-645-1258

    Email: eabowen@buffalo.edu

  • Head shot of Ian Bradley, University at Buffalo wastewater treatment and algal bloom expert.
    8/19/21

    Ian Bradley

    Assistant Professor of Civil, Structural and Environmental Engineering 

    Expertise: wastewater treatment, algae, algal blooms in the Great Lakes and elsewhere

    Phone: 716-645-4004

    Email: ianbradl@buffalo.edu

  • Portrait of Susan Spierre Clark, University at Buffalo sustainability, climate change, infrastructure and community resilience expert.
    8/17/21

    Susan Spierre Clark

    Assistant Professor of Environment and Sustainability

    Expertise: climate change and sustainable development; resilient infrastructure; power outages due to extreme events; sustainability education; community resilience

    Phone: 716-645-1403

    Email: sclark1@buffalo.edu

  • Portrait of Shawn J. Donahue, University at Buffalo elections, political science and Constitutional law expert.
    6/27/22

    Shawn J. Donahue

    Assistant Professor of Political Science

    Expertise: voting rights, redistricting, gerrymandering, state and local politics (including New York State and Buffalo-area politics), campaigns, elections, civil liberties, Constitutional law, election law

    Phone: 716-645-8446

    Email: shawndon@buffalo.edu

  • Head shot of Stuart Evans, University at Buffalo weather, climate and atmospheric science expert.
    8/19/21

    Stuart M. Evans

    Assistant Professor of Geography

    Expertise: climate change, dust and dust storms, weather, atmospheric science, precipitation, monsoons, lake effect snow

    Phone: 716-645-0491

    Email: stuartev@buffalo.edu

  • Portrait of Venu Govindaraju.
    1/5/24

    Venu Govindaraju

    Vice President for Research and Economic Development

    Expertise: artificial intelligence, including document analysis recognition, machine learning, pattern recognition, biometrics and generative AI

    Phone: 716-645-3321

    Email: govind@buffalo.edu

  • Portrait of Donald A. Grinde Jr., University at Buffalo Native American studies expert.
    4/7/23

    Donald A. Grinde Jr.

    Professor Emeritus in the Department of Africana and American Studies

    Expertise: Native American studies, Native American thought, Haudenosaunee/Iroquois history, U.S. Indian Policy since 1871, American Indian activism

    Phone: 716-645-0828

    Email: dgrinde@buffalo.edu

  • Portrait of Isok Kim, University at Buffalo mental health and refugee-related trauma expert.
    3/1/22

    Isok Kim

    Associate Professor of Social Work

    Expertise: mental health and wellbeing among Asian Americans; refugee-related trauma; post-resettlement challenges; culturally responsive mental health services

    Phone: 716-645-1252

    Email: isokkim@buffalo.edu

  • Portrait of Wooksoo Kim, University at Buffalo immigration and refugee resettlement expert.
    4/12/23

    Wooksoo Kim

    Associate Professor of Social Work

    Expertise: immigration; refugee resettlement, acculturation; social determinants of health of Asian immigrants; community-based participatory research

    Phone: 716-645-1227

    Email: wkim5@buffalo.edu

  • Portrait of Joan Linder, University at Buffalo art and drawing expert. Copyright Liz Linder Photography.
    6/23/23

    Joan Linder

    Professor of Art

    Expertise: drawing, consumption and mass production, mundane objects, modern life, Love Canal and other toxic sites, environmental art, feminist art, power, public art

    Phone: 716-645-0539

    Email: joannder@buffalo.edu

  • Portrait of David A. Mmilling, University at Buffalo medical education expert.
    8/25/21

    David A. Milling

    Senior Associate Dean for Student and Academic Affairs in the Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences

    Expertise: medical education; clinical skills; multicultural affairs and cultural competency in medicine; diversity in the medical profession

    Phone: 716-829-2802

    Email: dmilling@buffalo.edu

    Contact: Milling can also be reached through Ellen Goldbaum in University Communications at 716-645-4605 or goldbaum@buffalo.edu, or Douglas Sitler in University Communications at 716-645-9069 or drsitler@buffalo.edu.

  • Head shot of Thomas Murdock, University at Buffalo startups and entrepreneurship expert.
    1/12/22

    Thomas Murdock

    Clinical Assistant Professor of Entrepreneurship

    Expertise: emerging entrepreneurship, business incubation, economic development (particularly technology-based), startups as economic drivers, startup business plans/business models, customer discovery, social entrepreneurship

    Contact: Thomas Murdock can be reached most quickly through Jackie Ghosen in the School of Management Communications Office at 716-645-2833 or mgt-pr@buffalo.edu.

  • Head shot of Heather Orom, University at Buffalo health disparities expert.
    6/23/23

    Heather Orom

    Associate Professor of Community Health and Health Behavior

    Expertise: health disparities, illness risk perception

    Phone: 716-829- 6682

    Email: horom@buffalo.edu

  • Portrait of Kelly Patterson, University at Buffalo housing and urban development expert.
    4/12/23

    Kelly Patterson

    Associate Professor of Social Work

    Expertise: social welfare policy; cannabis policy; residential segregation; fair housing; gentrification; homelessness; poverty and economic inequality; race and class

    Phone: 716-645-1248

    Email: klp27@buffalo.edu

  • Head shot of Kristin Poinar, UB faculty expert on ice sheets and climate change.
    8/19/21

    Kristin Poinar

    Assistant Professor of Geology

    Expertise: climate change, Greenland Ice Sheet, ice sheet modeling, sea level rise, Antarctica, Great Lakes ice cover

    Phone: 716-645-4286

    Email: kpoinar@buffalo.edu

  • Head shot of Samina Raja.
    12/26/18

    Samina Raja

    Professor of Urban and Regional Planning 

    Expertise: food access, food systems planning, food and urban planning, local government food policy

    Phone: 716-829-5881

    Email: sraja@buffalo.edu

  • Head shot of Adel Sadek.
    10/26/23

    Adel Sadek

    Professor of Civil, Structural and Environmental Engineering

    Expertise: traffic, traffic at border-crossings, traffic in bad weather, smart cities, electric, autonomous and conventional vehicles

    Phone: 716-645-4367

    Email: asadek@buffalo.edu

  • Head shot of Robert G. Shibley.
    10/24/23

    Robert G. Shibley

    SUNY Distinguished Professor

    Expertise: urban design and planning, urban revitalization, postindustrial cities, Buffalo and Western New York, the Rust Belt

    Phone: 716-829-3981

    Email: rshibley@buffalo.edu

    Contact: Shibley can also be reached through David Hill in UB Media Relations (716-645-4651, davidhil@buffalo.edu) or Rachel Teaman in the School of Architecture and Planning (716-829-3794, rmansour@buffalo.edu).

  • Head shot of Robert Silverman, University at Buffalo affordable housing and gentrification expert.
    5/3/24

    Robert Silverman

    Professor of Urban and Regional Planning

    Expertise: shrinking cities, fair housing, affordable housing, licensing and siting of cannabis dispensaries, gentrification, community development, nonprofit organizations, community-based organizations in urban neighborhoods

    Phone: 716-829-5882

    Email: rms35@buffalo.edu

  • Portrait of Susan Steffan.
    7/3/24

    Susan Steffan

    Executive Director, Center for Entrepreneurial Leadership

    Expertise: entrepreneurship; small business; startups; finance for entrepreneurs; consulting; negotiations; adult and online learning

    Phone:  Susan Steffan can be reached most quickly through Jackie Ghosen in the School of Management Communications Office at 716-645-2833 or mgt-pr@buffalo.edu.

     

  • Portrait of Jennifer Surtees, University at Buffalo genomics and genetics expert.
    11/8/23

    Jennifer A. Surtees

    Professor of Biochemistry

    Expertise: genomes, genetic diversity, DNA, science communication, COVID-19 genomic surveillance and genetic variants

    Phone: 716-829-6083

    Email: jsurtees@buffalo.edu

  • Head shot of Henry-Louis Taylor Jr., University at Buffalo urban development and gentrification expert.
    5/14/22

    Henry-Louis Taylor Jr.

    Director of the Center for Urban Studies

    Expertise: urban development, housing, gentrification, underdeveloped neighborhoods, shrinking cities, race and class, U.S.-Cuba relations

    Phone: 716-829-5458

    Email: htaylor@buffalo.edu

  • Head shot of Elizabeth, University at Buffalo faculty expert on climate change and precipitation.
    11/21/22

    Elizabeth K. Thomas

    Associate Professor of Geology

    Expertise: climate change, Arctic ice sheets, precipitation, lake effect snow, sea level rise, monsoons

    Phone: 716-645-4329

    Email: ekthomas@buffalo.edu

  • Head shot of Lillian S. Williams, University at Buffalo U.S. social and urban history expert.
    8/16/21

    Lillian S. Williams

    Associate Professor of Africana and American Studies

    Expertise: U.S. social and urban history; African American history in the U.S. and Western New York; women’s history

    Phone: 716-645-0798

    Email: lsw4@buffalo.edu

  • Portrait of Annette Wysocki.
    3/29/24

    Annette Wysocki

    Dean of the School of Nursing

    Expertise: wound care, delayed healing in chronic wounds, federal funding of nursing programs, media representation of nurses, ethical guidelines.

    Phone: 716-829-3308

    Email: wysocki4@buffalo.edu