Pacific media sources for the Olympics in Pyeongchang, South Korea

The following University of the Pacific faculty are available to comment on various aspects of the 2018 Winter Olympic Games in Pyeongchang, South Korea, from athletic performance and analytics in sports to the threat of conflict on the Korean Peninsula and the impact of a joint North Korea-South Korea Olympic team.

Olympic facilities, globalization of sports
Peter Schroeder, associate professor in University of the Pacific's Department of Health, Exercise, and Sport Sciences, has written extensively on sports management. He has taught courses on the 2012 London Olympics, sports in America, global event and facilities management, and sports and globalization. He can provide context and insight on Americans' love for the Olympics, the planning and organization it takes to build Olympic facilities, the long-term value of hosting an Olympiad, and the impact of globalization on sports.
Contact: Peter Schroeder | 209.946.2704 | pschroeder@pacific.edu

Cyberattacks
Jeff Shafer, an associate professor of electrical and computer engineering and the founding director of the cybersecurity program at University of the Pacific, can discuss potential hacking attacks on organizations and individuals at the Olympics and how people can protect themselves and their devices. Many of these same vulnerabilities also apply to businesses and governments, but on a much larger scale. He can discuss how cybercriminals threaten essential services - such as power, water and telecommunications - on which the economy and we all depend.
Contact: Jeff Shafer | 209.946.2302 | jshafer@pacific.edu

Analytics in athletics
Rick Hutley, professor of practice and director of the analytics program found on University of the Pacific's San Francisco and Sacramento campuses, is a former vice president of innovation at Cisco Systems where he focused on how the "Internet of Everything" will drive innovation over the next decade. He can talk about the analytics used to generate and analyze sports statistics to evaluate player and team performance and even forecast injuries. Think "Moneyball," the best-selling book and 2011 Brad Pitt movie, but on an Olympic scale.
Contact: Rick Hutley | 678.296.2924 | rhutley@pacific.edu

Elite training and human performance
Courtney Jensen, an assistant professor in University of the Pacific's Department of Health, Exercise, and Sport Sciences, has written and presented on elite training, performance enhancing drugs, and neuromuscular alterations in the injured athlete. His scholarly interests concern muscle physiology, particularly how the muscle functions as a component of human performance. His academic courses focus largely on exercise biochemistry and human performance physiology.
Contact: Courtney Jensen | 209.946.3133 | cjensen1@pacific.edu

Statistical analysis for achieving peak performance
James Graham, head coach for men's and women's water polo at University of the Pacific, was an analyst for the U.S. Men's Water Polo team during the 2012 Olympics. He conducted a statistical analysis of every water polo team competing in that year's games. He was named 2013 Men's National Coach of the Year after using analytics insights to lead the Pacific men's team to a program-best 23-5 record and NCAA National Championship Game. Two players he coached were on national teams for the 2016 Olympics - Alex Obert was on the USA Water Polo team and Balázs Erdélyi represented Hungary. Graham's work is used by USA Water Polo to improve team performance. He was the head coach of the USA men's water polo team at the 2017 University Games in Taipei. Graham can provide a coach's perspective on Olympic competition, achieving peak athletic performance, and insights into the kind of edge that statistical analysis can provide in international competition.
Contact: James Graham | 209.946.2736 | jgraham1@pacific.edu

Travel health
Mark P. Walberg, associate professor of pharmacy practice at University of the Pacific, is available to talk about issues related to travel health, including potential health threats to Olympic athletes and sports tourists. Walberg holds a certificate in travel health from the International Society of Travel Medicine and is a faculty trainer for the American Pharmacists Association Pharmacy-Based Immunization Delivery Certification Training Program. Walberg received his doctor of pharmacy degree and doctorate in pharmaceutics and medicinal chemistry at University of the Pacific's Thomas J. Long School of Pharmacy and Health Sciences. He teaches courses in travel health and medicine, advanced immunizations and immunology, and the history and future of vaccines.
Contact: Mark Walberg | 805.338.5546 | mwalberg@pacific.edu

International politics, U.S. foreign policy
Brian Klunk, an associate professor in University of the Pacific's Department of Political Science, has written about U.S. foreign policy and just war theory, and can talk about international relations and U.S. foreign policy as it relates to North Korea. He has taught courses on international relations, U.S. foreign policy, international politics, conflict and conflict management, international terrorism, political ethics, and peace studies.
Contact: Brian Klunk | 209.946.2927 (Office) | 209.601.4546 (Cell) | bklunk@pacific.edu

Arms races, causes of war
Susan Sample, a professor of political science in University of the Pacific's School of International Studies, has written extensively on international conflict, anticipating war and steps leading to war, including arms buildups. Her research covers causes of war, role of national identity in creating foreign policy choices, and the processes in conflict and conflict resolution. It also covers genocide and international relations theory. She can provide insight into possible future conflict with North Korea.
Contact: Susan G. Sample | 209.946.2492 (Office) | 209.981.1384 (Cell) | ssample@pacific.edu

Bioterrorism and biosecurity
Leslie Gielow Jacobs, a professor at McGeorge School of Law and director of the school's Capital Center for Law and Policy, has written substantially on national security, governance and constitutional doctrine. Her work on national security and bioterrorism has appeared in Homeland Security: Law and Policy, Encyclopedia of Bioterrorism Defense, the Journal of National Security Law and Policy, among others. As part of a USAID legal education grant administered by McGeorge's Institute for Development of Legal Infrastructure within the school's Center for Global Business and Development, Jacobs taught a course at Zhejiang Gongshang University in Hangzhou, China, southwest of the Korean Peninsula, so she is keenly familiar with the region.
Contact: Leslie Gielow Jacobs | 916.739.7217 (Office) | ljacobs@pacific.edu

National security
John Cary Sims, professor at University of the Pacific's McGeorge School of Law, is a founding co-editor-in-chief of the Journal of National Security Law and Policy, a peer-reviewed publication focusing on national defense issues. His primary research areas include constitutional law, especially the First Amendment and human rights. He has written extensively on government secrecy, national security and terrorism.
Contact: John Cary Sims | 916.739.7017 (Office) | 916.384.8185 (Cell) | jsims@pacific.edu