Natural Disasters

Stephen Marshak is the author or coauthor of six best-selling geoscience textbooks published by W. W. Norton. He is professor emeritus in the Department of Earth Science and Environmental Change and director emeritus of the School of Earth, Society, and Environment at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, where he received multiple campus-level teaching awards. He was also honored with the Neil Miner Award from the National Association of Geoscience Teachers for his “exceptional contributions to stimulating interest in Earth Science.” Robert Rauber is a Professor of Atmospheric Sciences at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, where he was Department Head for twelve years, and now serves as Director of the School of Earth, Society, & Environment. He holds a B.S. in Physics and a B.A. in English from the Pennsylvania State University, as well as an M.S. and Ph.D. in Atmospheric Sciences from Colorado State University. He oversees a research program that focuses on the development and behavior of storms, which takes him on some rather exciting flights into the midst of severe weather. Bob has won campus teaching awards, is a Fellow of the American Meteorological Society (AMS), and serves as the publication commissioner for the AMS. In addition to authoring many research papers, Bob has co-authored Earth Science, Laboratory Manual for Earth Science, Severe and Hazardous Weather: An Introduction to High Impact Meteorology, and a new book, Radar Meteorology, A First Course. Neil Johnson is a Senior Instructor and Minerals Curator at Virginia Tech University. He holds a B.S. from the Ohio State University, as well as an M.S. and Ph.D. from Virginia Tech University. He regularly teaches the introductory course on Earth’s Natural Hazards, and his research focuses on mineral characterization, ore geology, and economic geology, utilizing x-ray powder refraction.