NEWS
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Protecting Georgia from Disasters Requires State-Led Coordination
New University of Georgia Institute for Resilient Infrastructure Systems report provides steps to make Georgia more resilient ATHENS, GA – When Hurricane Helene swept across Georgia in 2024 and left devastation in its wake–including an estimated $6.4 billion in agricultural and timber losses–it underscored a fine point: that communities are…
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Q&A: CITRA hosts a Young Scholar Summer Intern
Meet this summer’s Young Scholar, Aarsheya Gunjal! Gunjal joined Dr. Felix Santiago-Collazo’s Compound Inundation Team for Resilient Applications (CITRA) Lab this summer for the Young Scholars Program (YSP) at UGA. Gunjal has been interested in science and coding since sixth grade, and joined the team this summer to learn more…
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Saving Mannington Meadows: Natural Infrastructure Fellow paves the way for wetland restoration
Graduate student Nicholas Austin has spent the last two years compiling a full profile of a once-freshwater wetland in New Jersey. His work is not only a thesis topic for his own Master’s degree, it’s blazing a path for future students to continue working towards the protection of this site. …
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“A Blueprint for Greener Shorelines:” New publication suggests future directions for coastal resilience research
In a new publication, IRIS affiliate and coastal engineer Matt Bilskie joins authors from around the world to further the cause of nature-based solutions for coastal ecosystems. Nature-based solutions (NbS) are designed to provide infrastructure services by leveraging ecological processes that protect people and ecosystems while building resilience. In coastal…
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Recede to Succeed? UGA researchers investigate how levee setbacks impact biodiversity
As organizations around the world work to better understand the benefits that natural infrastructure can provide both people and the environment, IRIS researchers are doing on-the-ground work to estimate the ecological benefits of a method touted for its benefits both up- and downstream: the levee setback. While traditional levees are…
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New Resilient Futures Podcast: How America’s Historical Calamities Inform Emergency Response Today
Cynthia Kierner, historian, self-declared “non-21st century person,” and Mets fan, is deeply interested in the role of disturbances across American history- hurricanes, earthquakes, and disease, oh my. In her book, Inventing Disaster: The Culture of Calamity from the Jamestown Colony to the Johnstown Flood, she reviews the history of natural…
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IRIS hosts 25th Anniversary meeting of the American Ecological Engineering Society
On Wednesday, May 28th, Athens welcomed back the American Ecological Engineering Society for its 25th annual meeting. The meeting, which was first held in Athens in 2001, drew a crowd of over 220 participants from around the world. Honoring those whose shoulders we stand on This gathering was especially sentimental…
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Resilience Research Abroad: IRIS in Qatar
A key aspect of resilience is consistency—which is why IRIS researchers are working towards proactive, nature-based solutions all year long. University of Georgia College of Engineering Assistant Professor Alysha Helmrich recently attended the Qatar Resilience Symposium, which hosted over 150 representatives from key government agencies, academic institutions, utility companies, and…
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Field Updates: NI Fellow’s Field Work shared by Ducks Unlimited
From the Ducks Unlimited Great Lakes/Atlantic Region via Facebook: “Funded by NASA’s Biological Diversity and Ecological Conservation program, Ducks Unlimited recently joined University of Georgia (UGA) researchers to assist with an ongoing project along the Missouri River floodplains. The research focuses on evaluating levee setbacks (relocating levees to allow the…
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Featured in AJC: Can a historic Black community beat climate change?
Institute for Resilient Infrastructure Systems (IRIS) affiliate Brock Woodson was featured in The Atlanta Journal-Constitution as part of a collaborative project that seeks to save Sapelo Island’s historic community, Hogg Hummock, from a growing threat: rising seas. Last year, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration awarded a $2.8 million grant…
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New Resilient Futures Podcast: Why Do We Need Parks?
We know that green spaces are good for you. They provide benefits to air quality, biodiversity, and even your mental health… but why? Returning guest Joeri Morpurgo, a postdoctoral fellow at Universiteit Leiden in the Netherlands, set out with his team to answer this question. They found an important distinction:…
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Proactive Peaches: IRIS’s Georgia Resilience Planning Work featured by The Pew Charitable Trusts
This spring, the Institute for Resilient Infrastructure Systems hosted a statewide gathering of Georgia’s local governments, industry partners, utility companies, regional commissions, conservation organizations and more. The goal: a comprehensive plan to build a more resilient Georgia. The work was particularly informed by the severe damage across eastern Georgia caused…
