Jul 24, 2026
2 min
There are times when following your instincts in an emergency can put you in even greater danger. A swimmer caught in a rip current fights desperately toward shore, exhausting themselves when swimming parallel to the beach would carry them in seconds to safety. A driver caught in a sudden whiteout may instinctively slam on the brakes, turning a single dangerous moment into an multi-car pileup.
Jase Bernhardt, director of Hofstra's meteorology program and associate professor of geology, environment, and sustainability, is Hofstra's lead voice on rip current safety at Long Island beaches — what causes them, how to spot one before wading in, and the counterintuitive escape move that keeps swimmers from panicking themselves under. He's taken that safety mission past the beach-flag-and-pamphlet stage: Bernhardt builds virtual reality simulations that put students and the public inside a rip current, a Category 3 hurricane, a storm surge, and a snow squall, so the correct response is already muscle memory before anyone's actually in danger.
What he can speak to:
Reach Dr. Bernhardt through the Contact button on his profile below.
Dr. Bernhardt's current research is focused on using VR technology to teach about dangerous weather conditions.
1 min
A Newsday story on the forecast for a warmer and wetter winter features an interview with Dr. Jase Bernhardt, associate professor of geology, environment, and sustainability. “We expect it to be a wetter winter, but whether that’s big snowstorms or tilting more towards rain, that’s harder to say,” Bernhardt explained. “More precipitation could mean more snow, but then if it’s not cold, then you have more mixed precipitation or rain.”
1 min
Mark Lukasiewicz, dean of The Lawrence Herbert School of Communication, talked to Newsday about Katie Zacharia’s five-day tenure as White House press secretary. He explained that the person in that challenging role needs to have a high level of credibility with the press. “It is a tough job, but successful press secretaries – and there have been several in the two Trump administrations – I think take a different approach, which is not the kind of bumbling approach that this press secretary took,” Lukasiewicz said. “You have to have a very deep command of the facts and policies of the president … so we’ll see who’s next in line.”
1 min
Martine Hackett, associate professor and chair of population health, spoke with Newsday about health and wellness advice disseminated by social media influencers. People looking to make a lifestyle change are likely to look at posts by influencers. Dr. Martine Hackett, chair of the population health department at Hofstra University, said posts from these influencers can be helpful to people looking for detailed wellness information that they might not be able to get at a routine office visit with their doctor. “You can go for your annual health checkup, but if you are younger and don’t have a chronic disease, you might be told to exercise, but they don’t have the time to tell you how,” she said. “And you may not be able to go to a nutritionist or a trainer.”
Check out some other posts from Hofstra University
1 min
A Newsday story on the forecast for a warmer and wetter winter features an interview with Dr. Jase Bernhardt, associate professor of geology, environment, and sustainability. “We expect it to be a wetter winter, but whether that’s big snowstorms or tilting more towards rain, that’s harder to say,” Bernhardt explained. “More precipitation could mean more snow, but then if it’s not cold, then you have more mixed precipitation or rain.”
1 min
Mark Lukasiewicz, dean of The Lawrence Herbert School of Communication, talked to Newsday about Katie Zacharia’s five-day tenure as White House press secretary. He explained that the person in that challenging role needs to have a high level of credibility with the press. “It is a tough job, but successful press secretaries – and there have been several in the two Trump administrations – I think take a different approach, which is not the kind of bumbling approach that this press secretary took,” Lukasiewicz said. “You have to have a very deep command of the facts and policies of the president … so we’ll see who’s next in line.”
1 min
Martine Hackett, associate professor and chair of population health, spoke with Newsday about health and wellness advice disseminated by social media influencers. People looking to make a lifestyle change are likely to look at posts by influencers. Dr. Martine Hackett, chair of the population health department at Hofstra University, said posts from these influencers can be helpful to people looking for detailed wellness information that they might not be able to get at a routine office visit with their doctor. “You can go for your annual health checkup, but if you are younger and don’t have a chronic disease, you might be told to exercise, but they don’t have the time to tell you how,” she said. “And you may not be able to go to a nutritionist or a trainer.”
