Several University of Central Florida professors are available to talk with news reporters about topics related to hurricanes. The group includes a professor and a Georgia colleague who run a Web site that tracks hurricanes worldwide and projects storm damage. Other professors can comment on storm surges that result from hurricanes and the impact of storms on gasoline prices and tourism.

Contact information for each professor is listed below. If you need assistance reaching any of the professors directly, contact Chad Binette, of News and Information, at 407-823-6312 (office), 407-247-8777 (cell) or cbinette@mail.ucf.edu, or Zenaida Gonzalez Kotala, also of News and Information, at 407-823-6120 (office), 407-446-6567 (cell) or zkotala@mail.ucf.edu.

-- Storm tracking, damage estimates and impact on oil-and-gas prices. UCF Statistics professor Mark Johnson and Chuck Watson, a Savannah, Ga., researcher who founded the Kinetic Analysis Corp., run a Web site that tracks storms worldwide with hourly updates. The site lists estimates of how much damage specific hurricanes are likely to cause based on their tracks and property records. The site, http://hurricane.methaz.org, also includes estimates of storms? effects on oil and gas production in the Gulf of Mexico. Contact: Mark Johnson, 954-401-6249 (cell), 407-823-2695 (office, after Aug. 1) or mejohnso@mail.ucf.edu, Chuck Watson, 912-398-9753 (cell), ccwatson@mail.methaz.net.

-- Storm surges. Scott Hagen, associate professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering, can discuss the storm surges that result from hurricanes. He is working on more precise models of tides, inflows, winds and other influences on the St. Johns River and Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway, which will help to improve forecasting of hurricane storm surges. Hagen also is part of a research team that has developed a real-time forecasting system for winds, waves and storm surge at Lake Pontchartrain in the New Orleans area. Hagen is the director of the UCF Coastal Hydroscience Analysis, Modeling and Predictive Simulations Laboratory (CHAMPS Lab), which is online at http://champs.cecs.ucf.edu; contact: 407-823-3903 (office), shagen@mail.ucf.edu.

-- Impact on gasoline prices. Ujjayant Chakravorty, professor of Economics; contact: 407-823-4728 (office), 678-469-8235 (cell), uchakravorty@bus.ucf.edu.

-- Impact on the tourism industry. Abraham Pizam, dean of the Rosen College of Hospitality Management; contact: 407-903-8010 (office), 407-222-3242 (cell), apizam@mail.ucf.edu, and Robertico Croes, associate professor at the Rosen College, 407-903-8028 (office), 407-276-3009 (cell), rcroes@mail.ucf.edu. Croes is available for interviews in Spanish and English.

-- Impact on coral reefs, frogs, toads, reptiles, birds and other animals. John Fauth, associate professor of biology; contact: 407-823-1661, jfauth@mail.ucf.edu.

-- Economic impact. Mark Soskin, associate professor of Economics; contact: 386-290-3481 (cell), 386-676-0974 (home), soskin@mail.ucf.edu.

-- Impact on storm-water systems. Martin Wanielista, director of the Stormwater Management Academy and professor of Engineering; contact: 407-823-4144 (office), wanielis@mail.ucf.edu.

-- Impact on banking issues and homeowners? insurance policies. Stanley Smith, professor of Finance; contact: 407-823-6453 (office), stan.smith@bus.ucf.edu.

-- Impact on families and children. Ana Leon, associate professor of Social Work, can also discuss the ways that parents can help children cope with the damage and stress associated with storms; contact: 407-823-6195 (office), leon@mail.ucf.edu.

-- Impact on politics and campaigns. Roger Handberg, chairman of the Political Science Department; contact: 407-823-2608 (office), 407-366-3488 (home), handberg@mail.ucf.edu.

-- Impact on local governments. Scot Schraufnagel, assistant professor of Political Science; contact: 386-506-4007 (work), 407-913-1902 (cell), sschrauf@mail.ucf.edu.

-- Coordination among governments and nonprofit organizations. Naim Kapucu, assistant professor of Public Administration, contact: 407-823-6096 (office), 321-230-2304 (cell), nkapucu@mail.ucf.edu.

-- Nursing responses during natural disasters. Mary Lou Sole, professor in School of Nursing, 407-823-5133 (office), 407-230-6905 (cell), 407-677-8703 (home), msole@mail.ucf.edu.