Associate professor and Director of the International Development Program, has expertise in economic political and social development, including any resulting influences the oil spill may have socially and economically on the Mississippi Gulf Coast. Butler has expertise in field research techniques such as interviewing, focus groups, and surveys. He is working on a funded project associated with economic and social recovery of south Mississippi and Alabama from Hurricane Katrina. Created projects include disaster composite indexes and social cohesion indexes.

Remote Sensing, Physical Geography, Coastal Systems

Cultural, Tropical Land Use, Settlement, Middle America - Expertise in hurricane impacts in the western Caribbean and how hurricanes may impact the continuing oil crisis in the Gulf of Mexico.

228.872.4273 | william.hawkins@usm.edu

Professor of Psychology
Marine mammal behavior, including the effects of anthropomorphic activity on the behavior of marine mammals in the Gulf of Mexico.  We have been involved in two studies of sperm whales and beaked whales that were conducted near the site of the Deepwater Horizon incident and have also conducted a six-year longitudinal study of dolphins in the Mississippi Sound.  Our longitudinal study of dolphins provides a unique base of approximately 900 indentified dolphins in the Mississippi Sound area, including their residency status, social structure, foraging strategies, and nursery areas.

Palynology, Biogeography, Climate-Environmental Change - Dr. Reese is actively involved in the new and exciting science of paleotempestology, or the reconstruction of pre-historic hurricane landfalls. He has worked all along the Gulf and Atlantic Coasts of North America and has plans to extend this research into the Caribbean and Central America