IRIS News

  • New episode of the Resilient Futures Podcast: Biodiversity and Why It Matters in Engineering

    New episode of the Resilient Futures Podcast: Biodiversity and Why It Matters in Engineering

    In the newest episode of our new Resilient Futures Podcast (formerly the Future Cities Podcast), Alysha and Todd are joined by Kyle McKay (USACE Research Civil Engineer) and Charles van Rees (Conservation Scientist at UGA) to discuss all things biodiversity. Biodiversity is an ecological concept that can be difficult to quantify, but is critical for…

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  • IRIS represented with N-EWN affiliates at ASCE INSPIRE 2023

    IRIS represented with N-EWN affiliates at ASCE INSPIRE 2023

    A number of N-EWN partners were represented at the American Society for Civil Engineers’ INSPIRE Conference this past November. The conference took place over three days (Thursday, Nov 16 – Saturday, Nov. 18) in Arlington, Virginia, and several IRIS affiliates gave presentations, showed posters, or spoke in workshops and panels. Check out this list of…

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  • Hear from Dr. Brian Bledsoe at Friday’s Research Live webinar series!

    Hear from Dr. Brian Bledsoe at Friday’s Research Live webinar series!

    Research Live is the Office of Research’s monthly webinar series, focused on topics of practical interest to the UGA research community. These virtual events provide an opportunity for faculty, students and staff to interact directly from OoR professionals. All events are free and open to anyone in the UGA community. December “Thinking Big: How to Create & Fund Successful Interdisciplinary…

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  • New IRIS project: Scalable Watershed Resilience

    New IRIS project: Scalable Watershed Resilience

    IRIS affiliates Alysha Helmrich, Brian Bledsoe, Todd Bridges, and Scott Pippin were recently awarded funding for their Scalable Watershed Resilience project, which seeks to further the US Army Corps of Engineers’ ongoing efforts to strengthen the resilience of critical infrastructure systems in the Savannah River basin.  About the project: To further the US Army Corps of Engineers’ ongoing efforts surrounding…

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  • Seeds for the future: Hydrologist Todd Rasmussen to retire after three decades with UGA

    Seeds for the future: Hydrologist Todd Rasmussen to retire after three decades with UGA

    By Cheryth France, River Basin Center After 31 years at UGA, hydrologist and dedicated educator Todd Rasmussen will retire from the Warnell School of Forestry and Natural Resources in December of 2023.  To Todd Rasmussen, teaching has never been secondary to research. Many of his former students now hold positions in federal, state and private…

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  • New IRIS in Focus: A Legal, Regulatory, and Policy Primer on Levee Setbacks

    New IRIS in Focus: A Legal, Regulatory, and Policy Primer on Levee Setbacks

    Recently, IRIS researchers Yee Huang and Matt Shudtz developed the Legal, Regulatory and Policy Primer on Levee Setbacks, a tool intended to help interested communities strategize how to implement a levee setback by helping planning branches in federal agencies, local levee districts and beyond understand the authorities, funding programs, permitting and legal requirements, and incentives…

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  • Resilient Futures Podcast Episode 2 – Promoting Resilience: Interdisciplinary Expertise and Collaboration

    Resilient Futures Podcast Episode 2 – Promoting Resilience: Interdisciplinary Expertise and Collaboration

    On interdisciplinary collaboration, promoting resilience projects and disaster management strategies with Executive Director of ASCE, Tom Smith Just in time for the ASCE INSPIRE Conference, Alysha Helmrich and Todd Bridges are joined by Tom Smith, Executive Director of the American Society of Civil Engineers, to discuss interdisciplinary collaboration between engineers, policy experts, and environmental managers.…

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  • UGA researchers use water management and environmental justice data to create urban stream prioritization framework

    UGA researchers use water management and environmental justice data to create urban stream prioritization framework

    IRIS Research Scientist Holly Yaryan Hall and Director Brian Bledsoe recently published a technical paper in ASCE Open: Multidisciplinary Journal of Civil Engineering, describing the importance of systems engineering in implementation of natural infrastructure projects and nature-based solutions. The paper reviews the complex challenges faced by surface water management, especially in urban riverscapes, focusing specifically…

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  • UGA team to leverage AI, remote sensing for NASA-funded conservation project

    UGA team to leverage AI, remote sensing for NASA-funded conservation project

    In a grant project focused on levee setbacks, UGA scientists are filling a critical gap in biodiversity benefit assessment for USACE.  ATHENS, Ga., Nov. 9, 2023—NASA recently awarded $600,000 to a project spearheaded by University of Georgia scientists Charles van Rees and Seth Wenger. The project, funded by a Research Opportunities in Space and Earth Science…

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  • The Institute for Resilient Infrastructure Systems gathers private-sector leaders for Summit on Nature-Based Solutions

    The Institute for Resilient Infrastructure Systems gathers private-sector leaders for Summit on Nature-Based Solutions

    ATHENS, GA – This week, the University of Georgia’s Institute for Resilient Infrastructure Systems (IRIS) hosted its first Industry Summit on Nature-based Solutions. The Summit brought together over 100 leaders from across fifty private sector organizations to identify the challenges and opportunities in advancing the development of nature-based solutions to support resilient communities.   Nature-based…

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  • Alumni Highlight: Interview With Daniel Buhr, PhD ‘23

    Alumni Highlight: Interview With Daniel Buhr, PhD ‘23

    Describe your career background and your time at UGA: My undergraduate work was at Michigan State University. I got my Bachelors of Science in Biosystems Engineering with a focus on ecosystems engineering, and then I started looking for graduate schools; I was looking south of Michigan, and found Dr. Bledsoe at UGA. So I came…

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  • River Basin Center hosts Confluence poster event highlighting graduate research in water resources

    River Basin Center hosts Confluence poster event highlighting graduate research in water resources

    Thirty graduate students showcased research at a poster session on Friday, October 20, hosted by the UGA River Basin Center. The event, titled Confluence, was the first annual poster session of its kind and featured interdisciplinary work from all over campus that focused on freshwater science and policy. “We were encouraged by the diverse water…

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