Hurricane Katrina may be in the past tense now, but that doesnt mean that the storm that swamped the Gulf wont still be generating emotional waves for months and years ahead.

WVU psychologist Dr. Joseph Scotti will discuss post-traumatic stress disorder and the storm in a 6 p.m. talk Thursday (Oct. 27) in the Gold Room of the Towers Residential Complex.

Scottis appearance will be the third in a lecture series by WVU s Office of Service Learning that is looking at life in America, post-Katrina.

Hes a nationally known expert in post-traumatic stress disorder, and has worked with everyone from abused children to combat veterans in facilities from New York state to Illinois and Mississippi.

Scotti joined the Eberly College of Arts and Sciences Department of Psychology in 1990 and has received several awards for his service as an educator.

Education will be the focus of Scottis talk Thursday night, said Franchesca Nestor, the Office of Service Learning associate who is coordinating the lecture series.

With as many as 1 million people displaced by Katrina and 400,000 jobs simply swept away, she said, its easy to be numbed by the enormity of it all.

We saw the storm surge and the ruined city,she said,but we wont see the people having the nightmares and the flashbacks. Dr. Scotti will put a �€~mental handleon it all for us. The people in the Gulf have gone through something that you dont just �€~snapyourself out of.

WVU geologist Dr. J. Steven Kite will close the series Nov. 3 with a look at hurricanes and how they behave on the sea and on the land.