Tuesday Plenary Session: Delta Z: New Orleans' Ambivalent Relationship with its Topographic Elevation

Geographer Richard Campanella is the associate director of Tulane University's Center for Bioenvironmental Research and a research professor with the Earth and Environmental Sciences Department. A long-time RS/GIS user, he is the author of three critically acclaimed books, including "Geographies of New Orleans: Urban Fabrics Before the Storm," winner of the Louisiana Endowment for the Humanities 2006 Book of the Year, and "Time and Place in New Orleans," the 2002 New Orleans/Gulf South Book of the Year. Rich's research has been published in the Journal of American History, Architectural Education, Technology in Society, and Photogrammetric Engineering and Remote Sensing, and featured on NPR All Things Considered, The New York Times, and PBS American Experience. His next book, "Manuel's Dilemma," is scheduled for release from the Center for Louisiana Studies this autumn.

Craig Colten
Louisiana State University, Dept. of Geography & Anthropology

Tuesday Plenary Session: Rigid Designs in a Resilient Landscape: New Orleans and Floods

Craig Colten is the Carl O. Sauer Professor of Geography at Louisiana State University. He is the author of "An Unnatural Metropolis: Wresting New Orleans from Nature," winner of the AAG's 2006 J.B. Jackson Prize. His timely completion of this volume in early 2005, placed him in the sights of reporters from the New York Times, National Public Radio, Time Magazine, CNN, NBC, CBS, BBC, the Washington Post, the Times-Picayune and other news sources seeking to fathom why New Orleans existed in the path of a major hurricane. He continues to work on New Orleans and currently is investigating urban resiliency in southeast Louisiana.

Andrew Roberts
NASA Airborne Science Program

Wednesday Plenary Session: The NASA Airborne Science Program

Andrew Roberts had a 30 year career as a pilot in the Air Force Reserves both operationally and in Test & Development. He has also spent the last 32 years working for NASA as a Research Pilot and Aeronautical Researcher. He has flown a large array of aircraft with over 8000 hours at multiple NASA centers including training astronauts, flying highly modified aircraft and flying at high altitudes well over 60,000 feet. He has managed and flown many of the NASA hyperspectral missions over the last 20 years and worked with Wetmapp during the last 5 years. His experience covers most area's of NASA airborne science program since 1989 and now is the Director of Airborne Science for the Agency. This program has a multitude of aircraft which are available to the science community both manned and unmanned. The NASA Airborne Science Program is a real national asset and largest program of it's type supporting other national and international organizations.