“Big problems require big solutions.” This is the start of a new article from the UGA Office of Research, which profiles cross-disciplinary investigative teams and their impact on research and funding across campus. The Institute for Resilient Infrastructure Systems is just one of these teams, aligning experts to focus on nature-based solutions.
“I saw tremendous potential at UGA for this kind of institute,” said IRIS Director Brian Bledsoe. “I spent that first year having conversations with folks from over a dozen units across campus with interest and expertise in resilience and water and infrastructure, and [what became IRIS] grew out of a small group of faculty spanning all these disciplines: engineering, ecology, economics, social science, law and policy, landscape architecture and many others.”
The article features a number of other interdisciplinary teams at UGA, focusing on topics including infectious disease, climate change and more. UGA encourages the growth and reach of these teams through funding, leadership resources and publicity.
Check out the full article here.
Featured image: One of initiatives taken to incentivize and recognize team research is the Team Impact Award, added to UGA’s Research Awards in 2022. Brian Bledsoe and the team behind the Institute for Resilient Infrastructure Systems took home the inaugural award. Pictured here are (left to right) Scott Pippin, Bledsoe, Shana Jones, Don Nelson and Mark Risse, representing such diverse units as the Carl Vinson Institute of Government, College of Engineering, Franklin College of Arts & Sciences, and UGA Marine Extension and Georgia Sea Grant. (Photo by Andrew Davis Tucker via UGA Research)