COVID-19 experts for summer vacations and staycations

• Tourism expert on safe and sustainable tourism.
• Ventilation systems expert on precautions to take when flying.
• Work-life expert on managing personal and professional boundaries.
• Water decontamination expert on how COVID-19 could affect swimming pools.
• Online writing resource will keep your child creative over summer.

Tourism expert on safe and sustainable tourism

Jonathon Day, professor of hospitality and tourism management at Purdue University, is chair of the Travel Care Code and author of the book “An Introduction to Sustainable Tourism and Responsible Travel.” He can discuss ways travelers can support small businesses and how the tourism industry can bounce back from the pandemic.

A photograph of the professor is available to journalists via Google Drive.

Contact: gjday@purdue.edu (also available for phone and webcam interviews)

Media contact: paul102@purdue.edu (working remotely but will provide immediate response)

Ventilation systems expert on precautions to take when flying

Qingyan “Yan” Chen, Purdue’s James. G. Dwyer Professor of Mechanical Engineering, has researched the spread of viruses through ventilation systems in passenger vehicles and how to track them. He can recommend ways that passengers on planes and other modes of transit can protect themselves from possible infection.

An animation showing how air droplets from a cough spread throughout an airplane cabin is available via Google Drive.

Contact: yanchen@purdue.edu (also available for phone and webcam interviews)

Media contact: Kayla Wiles, wiles5@purdue.edu (working remotely but will provide immediate response)

Work-life expert on managing personal and professional boundaries

Ellen Ernst Kossek, Purdue’s Basil S. Turner Professor of Management, has written about and interviewed hundreds of Fortune 500 employees on managing work-life boundaries in the digital age. She can discuss ways parents can better balance their work and professional lives during vacations and staycations, or while working at home with a child.

A work-from-home stock image and a photograph of the professor is available to journalists via Google Drive.

Contact:  ekossek@purdue.edu (also available for phone and webcam interviews)

Media contact: Joseph Paul, paul102@purdue.edu (working remotely but will provide immediate response)

Water decontamination expert on how COVID-19 could affect swimming pools

Ernest “Chip” Blatchley III, Purdue’s Lee A. Rieth Professor in Environmental Engineering, studies pool water chemistry and how chlorine reacts with contaminants such as human body fluids, pharmaceuticals and personal care products. He can explain the risks COVID-19 might pose to swimming pool facilities when they reopen.

A stock photo of a swimming pool is available via Google Drive.

Contact: blatch@purdue.edu (also available for phone and webcam interviews)

Media contact: Kayla Wiles, wiles5@purdue.edu (working remotely but will provide immediate response)

Online writing resource will keep your child creative over summer

Harry Denny, associate professor of English and director of the Purdue Online Writing Lab, can discuss resources, assignments and activities to keep children engaged with writing over the summer.

A writing stock image is available to journalists via Google Drive.

Contact: Harry Denny, hdenny@purdue.edu (available for phone and Skype interviews)

Media contact: Joseph Paul, paul102@purdue.edu (working remotely but will provide immediate response) 

About Purdue University

Purdue University is a top public research institution developing practical solutions to today’s toughest challenges. Ranked the No. 6 Most Innovative University in the United States by U.S. News & World Report, Purdue delivers world-changing research and out-of-this-world discovery. Committed to hands-on and online, real-world learning, Purdue offers a transformative education to all. Committed to affordability and accessibility, Purdue has frozen tuition and most fees at 2012-13 levels, enabling more students than ever to graduate debt-free. See how Purdue never stops in the persistent pursuit of the next giant leap at purdue.edu.