UMass Lowell Experts Assist Print, Radio and TV Journalists
UMass Lowell faculty experts are available as sources for journalists in a variety of fields.
04/01/2016
Print, radio and TV journalists looking for expert sources can turn to UMass Lowell for world-class faculty, researchers and scholars who lend authority to news and feature stories in an engaging and relatable way. Experts in a range of fields are available in person, by phone or e-mail as sources for journalists. TV options include live interviews in person or via satellite.
This month’s hot topics and featured sources are:
- Autism – Ashleigh Hillier, behavioral expert. April is National Autism Awareness Month, which promotes understanding of the one in 68 children with autism spectrum disorders. Hillier can discuss the latest research on the causes and treatment of autism and how intervention programs based on art, music, exercise and educational mentoring can help people with autism achieve their fullest potential. She directs UMass Lowell’s Working Group for Autism Research and Education and coordinates the Disability Studies Program.
- Security threats – James Forest, counterterrorism expert. From the Brussels attacks to the third anniversary of the Boston Marathon bombing, Forest and his colleagues in UMass Lowell’s Center for Terrorism and Security Studies can discuss international and domestic terrorism and homeland security issues, ISIS and its alliances and transnational criminal networks. Forest teaches graduate and undergraduate courses on terrorism and weapons of mass destruction in UMass Lowell’s School of Criminology and Justice Studies.
- Earth Day – Juliette Rooney-Varga, climate change expert, can talk about why it’s important to teach and understand climate change, along with how individuals, communities and countries can reduce their carbon footprint. She teaches environmental biology and directs UMass Lowell’s Climate Change Initiative, which promotes sustainability on campus and throughout the region.
- Joel Tickner,expert on safer alternatives to chemicals, is a national leader on working with industry to reduce potentially harmful substances from their manufacturing processes and their products. His efforts have paved the way for the government to identify, develop and adopt safer alternatives for substances used in household items people come in contact with every day. He is a faculty member in community health and sustainability and works in the university’s Lowell Center for Sustainable Production.
- Prom anxiety – Doreen Arcus, family and relationship expert. Arcus can offer insight into how parents can set boundaries – from behavior to attire – for sons or daughters attending the high-school prom and how teens (and their parents) can cope with the disappointment of not being asked to attend. She is an expert on the social development of children and adolescents in relation to their families, schools and communities. She teaches psychology in UMass Lowell’s College of Fine Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences.
For a complete list of UMass Lowell experts, see www.uml.edu/experts. The university’s media relations team is ready to help connect you. Contact Nancy Cicco, 978-934-4944, Nancy_Cicco@uml.edu or Christine Gillette, 978-934-2209, Christine_Gillette@uml.edu.