Eugenie Birch, professor and chair of city and regional planning at the University of Pennsylvania, is co-director of the Penn Institute for Urban Research and co-editor of the book "Rebuilding Urban Places After Disaster: Lessons from Hurricane Katrina."  In this book, Birch discusses what can be learned from past disasters in planning the Gulf Coast's return to economic viability.

"While the urge to return to normalcy after a catastrophe is a universal theme in history, the San Francisco [1906 earthquake] story shows that risky rebuilding has important effects."

Robert Giegengack, professor of geology at the University of Pennsylvania, and Kenneth R. Foster, Penn professor of bioengineering, can discuss the physical restraints to be encountered in reconstructing New Orleans to make it less vulnerable.

"American technology can forestall, but probably not prevent, the loss of New Orleans's legendary river." 

Elijah Anderson, University of Pennsylvania professor of sociology, can comment on the inadequate disaster response and recovery with a focus on class and race issues.

"Black people assumed from the outset that they would bear the brunt of the devastation, and that does seem to be what happened.  Black neighborhoods were disproportionately destroyed, and it now appears that the destruction of black communities will be permanent."

Donald Kettl, director of the University of Pennsylvania's Fels Institute of Government and professor of political science, is co-editor of the book " On Risk and Disaster: Lessons from Hurricane Katrina."  His report to the Senate Homeland Security Committee, "Fixing FEMA," is available upon request.

"Three principles ought to guide the effort to fix FEMA.  First, reform the culture, don't obsess on the structure.  Second, build an all-hazard system, and third, build an effective intergovernmental-interorganizational culture." 

Erwann Michel-Kerjan, managing director of the Risk Management and Decision Processes Center at the University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School, co-edited the book, "Seeds of Disaster, Roots of Response."  He can discuss the use of private-public partnerships to deal with large-scale catastrophes, protection of critical infrastructure and strategic crisis management involving top decision makers.

"In just the last five years, the record of the most costly year ever in the history of catastrophe financing has been broken three times: 2001, 2004 and 2005.  Will 2006 be next?  I argue we are now looking at the sunrise of a totally new business model."