Greg Easson is the director of the Mississippi Mineral Resources Institute and associate dean for Research and Graduate Education in the School of Engineering. He has been a faculty member in the Department of Geology and Geological Engineering since 1995 and holds that rank of professor.
Easson has taught a wide range of academic courses throughout his tenure at the university, from introductory geology to advanced remote sensing. His area of research includes the application of remotely sensed data for natural resources issues and questions. One of the key disaster-related activities in Easson’s career was being part of a team of volunteers from universities in Mississippi that provided voluntary GIS support in the wake of Hurricane Katrina.
Easson is currently involved with research into the resilience of the natural communities on the Mississippi Gulf Coast and the use of remote sensing to improve the early onset of drought throughout the world.
Stephanie Showalter Otts is the director of the National Sea Grant Law Center and the Mississippi-Alabama Sea Grant Legal Program at the University of Mississippi School of Law. Stephanie received a bachelor’s in history from Penn State University and a joint Juris Doctor/master’s in environmental law from Vermont Law School. She is licensed to practice law in Pennsylvania and Mississippi. As director, Stephanie oversees a variety of legal education, research, and outreach activities, including providing legal research services to Sea Grant constituents on ocean and coastal law issues. Her duties also include the supervision of law student research and writing projects and providing assistance to organizations and governmental agencies with interpretation of statutes, regulations, and case law. Stephanie also teaches a foundational course on ocean and coastal law at the University of Mississippi School of Law. Her research on natural resources, marine, and environmental law issues has been published in a variety of publications. Stephanie has conducted extensive research on marine and freshwater invasive species.