Prof. Robert Thomas makes Hurricane Katrina presentation at CRISMART

Prof. Robert Thomas, Director of the Center for Environmental Communications at Loyola University in New Orleans, visited CRISMART on August 17th, 2006 to present research and talk about his personal experiences during Hurricane Katrina and its aftermath.

Katrina is an excellent example of how media can play a direct role in how a population responds to an impending disaster, and also demonstrates how crisis reporting can inadvertently impede efforts to manage a crisis. Prof. Thomas in particular discussed the effects - both positive and negative- of media coverage and crisis communication during the catastrophe. He is himself a New Orleans resident who provided expert analysis on Katrina for national news outlets in the United States, including CNN and the NBC Nightly News.