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IRIS welcomes Dr. Steven Thur, NOAA, to discuss research and relationships
ATHENS, GA – The Institute for Resilient Infrastructure Systems welcomed a special guest on Wednesday, August 21: NOAA’s Assistant Administrator for Oceanic and Atmospheric Research, Dr. Steven Thur. In this position, Dr. Thur oversees the foundational research that is key to understanding weather, climate, and marine and Great Lakes ecosystems. Thur’s focus is on applying…
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New episode of the Resilient Futures Podcast: Creating Space for Nature-based Solutions featuring Director Brian Bledsoe
The newest episode of the Resilient Futures Podcast features our Director, Dr. Brian Bledsoe, professor of civil and environmental engineering at the University of Georgia and farmer, guitar player, and dad (not in that order.) Hosts Alysha Helmrich and Todd Bridges join Bledsoe in reviewing his lifelong commitment to research and interdisciplinary collaboration. His career…
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Student project tackles coastal flooding on Sapelo Island
Originally published here by the UGA College of Engineering. Written by Hayley Clement. UGA Emergency Preparedness, Marine Institute partner with College of Engineering for hands-on learning Students in the College of Engineering collaborated with the UGA Office of Emergency Preparedness and Insurance & Claims Management (OEP/ICM) and the UGA Marine Institute (UGAMI) on Sapelo Island on…
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What does resilience look like halfway around the world? Urban infrastructure researchers Alysha Helmrich and Lynn Abdouni explore resilience planning in Doha, Qatar
The concept of resilience can be slippery. Is it about longevity, flexibility, adaptivity? All of the above? Resilience has different definitions across disciplines, space, and time, and researchers at IRIS are figuring out the shape that resilience takes in a new project based over 7000 miles away. This summer, urban infrastructure researchers Alysha Helmrich and…
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Alfred Vick joins panel on resilient buildings and building resilience
Sustainability and human innovation don’t have to go against each other. In fact, the future of our planet depends on the two going hand-in-hand. This summer, affiliate Dr. Alfie Vick participated in a panel hosted by the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) Georgia Chapter and the Society of American Military Engineers (SAME) Atlanta Post to…
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New publication: A coupled model for understanding market dynamics in coastal property values
Congratulations to Craig Landry and colleagues for their recent publication in Nature Communications. They developed a coupled human-natural systems, agent-based model to understand the influence of tax incentives, market dynamics, and coastal management subsidies on U.S. coastal property values, finding a damped response to coastal hazards that could be ameliorated through policy changes. Such changes could hasten gentrification…
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Todd Bridges inducted as Distinguished Civilian Employee by USACE ERDC’s Waterways Experiment Station
VICKSBURG, MS – Dr. Todd S. Bridges has spent decades working on new ideas, and after a 31-year career with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE), he isn’t slowing down just yet. Bridges “retired” last year as a full-time Professor of Practice with the University of Georgia Institute for Resilient Infrastructure Systems (UGA IRIS),…
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The American Society of Civil Engineers endorses the use of nature-based solutions as crucial tool in combatting climate change in new policy statement
In a recent policy statement, the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) endorsed the use of nature-based solutions (NbS) as a crucial tool for addressing the threat of climate change and bolstering community and ecological resilience. ASCE’s recognition of NbS as a crucial tool in future infrastructure projects is an important step toward accelerating global…
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IRIS researchers co-produce online training on ecological stream mitigation practices for wetland managers
In collaboration with the National Association of Wetland Managers (NAWM), IRIS Director Dr. Brian Bledsoe and alum Dr. Holly Yaryan Hall recently introduced an online training series for aquatic resources staff on compensatory stream mitigation projects. The training was funded through a cooperative agreement with U.S. EPA Region 4 (Southeast) and reviews practices for CWA…
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New publication: Spatial planning to maximize levee setback co-benefits
Levee setbacks have a lot of potential co-benefits. How can we maximize them? In a new paper published this month in WIREs Water, a team including several affiliates and alumni from the Institute for Resilient Infrastructure Systems review the myriad of benefits that have been associated with an increasingly popular nature-based solution: levee setbacks. A levee is an…
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Restoring Mannington Meadows: Wetland researchers take a field trip to New Jersey
Warnell School of Forestry & Natural Resources professor Rhett Jackson and Ducks Unlimited Natural Infrastructure Fellow Nicholas Austin joined representatives from Ducks Unlimited, USACE, New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (NJDEP), USFWS, Partnership for the Delaware Estuary, New Jersey Conservation Foundation, The Nature Conservancy, Conserve Wildlife NJ, and NOAA on Monday, July 22 to discuss plans…
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Bringing resilience home: doctoral student Luciana Iannone Tarcha begins project to install flood sensors in São Paulo, Brazil
How far would you move for a job you’re passionate about? Doctoral student Luciana Iannone Tarcha moved fields–and continents–to study flooding, a major problem in her home state of São Paulo, Brazil. With her latest project, she hopes to bring the technology she’s working with back to where her career began. Tarcha first went to…