IRIS News


  • IRIS Wrapped: 24 Publications from 2024

    IRIS Wrapped: 24 Publications from 2024

    2024 has been another busy year for the Institute for Resilient Infrastructure Systems! Because we’re so proud of their amazing work, we’ve collected 24 papers from IRIS affiliates to celebrate 2024 that show the impressive work happening here at UGA and beyond. The Institute for Resilient Infrastructure Systems was chartered by the University of Georgia…

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  • Making Room for the River: Matt Chambers featured on Resources Radio

    Making Room for the River: Matt Chambers featured on Resources Radio

    Levees are built to protect communities from floods. But when they fail, it can costs lives, homes and livelihoods. That’s where natural infrastructure comes in: by setting levees away from rivers and making room for natural floodplains in unpopulated areas, levees near communities are less likely to fail. Levee setback expert Matt Chambers, who is…

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  • Dr. Félix Santiago-Collazo and students participate in UNESCO conference on water security

    Dr. Félix Santiago-Collazo and students participate in UNESCO conference on water security

    In a virtual conference held on Thursday, November 21, Dr. Félix Santiago-Collazo and students from the Compound Inundation Team for Resilient Applications (CITRA) discussed compound hazards to water security and their cascading effects. The conference, titled Navigating the Complexities of Compound, Multihazard, and Cascading Events Impacts on Water Security, was held by the United Nations…

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  • IRIS named as a key University of Georgia sustainability initiative

    IRIS named as a key University of Georgia sustainability initiative

    We’re proud to announce that the Institute for Resilient Infrastructure Systems was recently named in the University of Georgia’s 2024 Sustainable Development Goals Report. The report summarized the many sustainability-oriented initiatives at the University of Georgia. “The University of Georgia is committed to tackling the world’s grand challenges, from combatting poverty, hunger, and infectious disease…

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  • Environmental law professor Adam Orford reflects on COP29

    Environmental law professor Adam Orford reflects on COP29

    University of Georgia School of Law professor Adam Orford attended the 29th Conference of the Parties (COP29) this year as part of the American Bar Association’s (ABA) in-person delegation, and he spent the event bringing an inside view of the world’s biggest climate-focused event to the public. The annual meeting of the United Nations Framework…

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  • School at the beach: IRIS graduate students flex their problem solving skills during Natural Infrastructure Field Course

    School at the beach: IRIS graduate students flex their problem solving skills during Natural Infrastructure Field Course

    IRIS graduate students flex their problem solving skills during Natural Infrastructure Field Course This past week, twelve Institute for Resilient Infrastructure Systems (IRIS) graduate students ditched the classroom for the beach – where they attended a natural infrastructure field course on Skidaway Island and Isle of Hope to flex their problem solving skills in the…

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  • New Resilient Futures Podcast! Greening the Cul-de-sac: Encouraging Nature-Positive Residential Development

    New Resilient Futures Podcast! Greening the Cul-de-sac: Encouraging Nature-Positive Residential Development

    Big, leafy shade trees, burbling creeks, and access to recreation in beautiful natural areas: most people intuitively know that these kinds of natural amenities create pleasant communities, and houses located close to these kinds of resources tend to sell for more than those without. What folks often aren’t thinking about is the fact that these…

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  • Director Brian Bledsoe featured by Pew Trusts: How the University of Georgia Champions Nature’s Ability to Reduce Climate Impacts

    Director Brian Bledsoe featured by Pew Trusts: How the University of Georgia Champions Nature’s Ability to Reduce Climate Impacts

    Originally published here by the Pew Charitable Trusts. When most people hear “infrastructure,” they picture roads, buildings, and other human-made structures. But experts at the University of Georgia’s Institute for Resilient Infrastructure Systems (IRIS) also use the term to describe natural features that offer direct and indirect benefits to communities and ecosystems, from forests to…

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  • Adaptation at a crossroads:  Socially uneven adoptions of agricultural technologies in rural India

    Adaptation at a crossroads:  Socially uneven adoptions of agricultural technologies in rural India

    Communities around the world are beginning to feel the impacts of climate change, including increasing temperatures, sea level rise, and intensifying storms. Many are taking action through lifestyle changes and new technologies that can help mitigate environmental issues on small scales. However, for these individual-level changes to make an impact, many people need to implement…

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  • Shepherd receives National Academies award for science communications

    Shepherd receives National Academies award for science communications

    J. Marshall Shepherd, Georgia Athletic Association Distinguished Professor of Atmospheric Sciences and Geography in the University of Georgia Franklin College of Arts and Sciences, was the top prize winner in the National Academies’ Research Scientist: Later Career category of its Schmidt Awards. The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine recently revealed the 2024 recipients of the Eric and…

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  • Save the Date: IRIS to host AEES 2025

    Save the Date: IRIS to host AEES 2025

    The Institute for Resilient Infrastructure Systems will host the next annual meeting of the American Ecological Engineering Society next spring in Athens, Georgia. The event, which will be the 25th anniversary of this meeting, will be returning to Athens after the inaugural conference was first held there in 2001. Mark your calendar for May 28-30,…

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  • IRIS Students Shine at River Basin Center’s Confluence Poster Contest

    IRIS Students Shine at River Basin Center’s Confluence Poster Contest

    On Friday, October 18, the UGA River Basin Center hosted their second annual water science & policy poster contest. The symposium, titled “Confluence,” brought together graduate students and interested faculty from all walks– or swims– of life: ecologists, engineers, landscape designers, anthropologists and more were able to explore and engage with over 30 posters. To…

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