EXPERTS ADVISORY

ANN ARBOR—The University of Michigan has experts available to discuss Tuesday’s annual State of the Union address, in which President Obama will outline this year’s agenda on issues such as the economy and climate change. They include:

CLIMATE CHANGE

Andrew Hoffman, director of the Erb Institute for Global Sustainable Enterprise, can discuss what he expects President Obama to say about addressing climate change. Immediately afterward, he can assess the president’s comments about climate change. He can also field questions about the social debate over climate change and why some people reject the scientific consensus. Hoffman is the Holcim Professor of Sustainable Enterprise, a position with joint appointments at the Ross School of Business and School of Natural Resources and Environment. Contact: (734) 763-9455, (617) 285-0920 or [email protected]. More info: http://webuser.bus.umich.edu/ajhoff.

Barry Rabe, professor of public policy at U-M’s Ford School and a nonresident senior fellow at the Brookings Institution, is an expert on the development of policies to reduce greenhouse gases. He was the first social scientist to receive a Climate Protection Award from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency in 2006 and is author of the book “Statehouse and Greenhouse: The Evolving Politics of American Climate Change Policy.” Rabe is available for interviews on Obama administration climate initiatives and programs the EPA has launched in recent years. Contact (734) 615-9596, (734) 765-1677 or [email protected]. More info: www.fordschool.umich.edu/faculty/Barry_Rabe.

ECONOMY/POVERTY

Donald Grimes, senior research associate and economist at the Institute for Research on Labor, Employment, and the Economy, specializes in economic forecasting and regional economic development, especially in Michigan and the Midwest. Contact: (941) 225-1304 or [email protected]. More info: http://bit.ly/1flrNB3

Luke Shaefer, assistant professor of social work, studies extreme poverty in the U.S., the impact of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program on material hardships, barriers to unemployment insurance faced by vulnerable workers, and strategies for increasing access to oral health care. Contact: (734) 936-5065 or [email protected]. More info: http://ssw.umich.edu/faculty/profiles/tenure-track/lshaefer

IMMIGRATION

Ann Chih Lin, associate professor of political science and public policy, can discuss immigration reform. Contact: (734) 764-7507 or [email protected]. More info: www.fordschool.umich.edu/faculty/Ann_Lin.

POLITICS

Michael Heaney, assistant professor of organizational studies and political science, examines the organizational dimensions of American politics. His research focuses on the role of intermediary institutions—especially interest groups, political parties and social movements—in shaping the political process and policy outcomes. Contact: (202) 236-3369 or [email protected]. More info: http://bit.ly/L1OYqS.

SOCIAL MEDIA

Joshua Pasek, assistant professor of communication studies, has done research exploring how new media and psychological processes each shape political attitudes, public opinion and political behaviors. “Fewer Americans are going to tune into the State of the Union Address on television this year,” he said. “A lot more are going to hear the president’s message accompanied by a series of simultaneous rebuttals on social networking sites like Facebook and Twitter. Although the administration is making a concerted attempt to cultivate these new channels, these forces mean that the president’s message just doesn’t have the same impact in the contemporary era that it had in years past.” Contact: (734) 763-3185 or [email protected]. More info: www.lsa.umich.edu/comm/facultystaff/faculty/ci.pasekjosh_ci.detail.

SPEECH

Aaron Kall, director of the U-M Debate Program and Debate Institute, can discuss the overall issues involving the State of the Union address. “This year’s speech is especially significant given the continual political divisiveness and rancor that exists in the country while control of congress will hang in the balance during the upcoming November midterm elections,” he said. Contact: (734) 239-3996 or [email protected]. More info: http://ns.umich.edu/new/experts-list/20728-aaron-kall.