Research Team
Co-Chairs : Gary Miller(PRI), and Paolo Gardoni(CEE)
Initial participants : Barbara Minsker and Nora El-Gohary(CEE), Jesse Ribot and Ryan Sriver(Geography); Brian Anderson(INHS), Arden Rowell(Law), and Colleen Murphy(Philosophy), David Maidment(CEAE, University of Texas at Austin), and Zong-Liang Yang(School of Geosciences, University of Texas at Austin)Grand Challenges
Reducing risks and increasing resilience to climate change (e.g., changes in lake or sea levels, precipitation), natural and human-made disasters (e.g., Hurricane Katrina, Fukoshima disaster, Gulf of Mexico oil spill), and rapid urban growth in coastal regionsand major river floodplains, where half much of the world’s population resides and rapid growth is occurring. Risk is defined broadly to include fatalities, economic impairment, damage to infrastructure and other critical services, loss of biodiversity and cultural diversity, introduction of invasive species, impairment of human health and wellbeing, and loss of outdoor recreational opportunity.
Research Questions
(1) How can coastal waterfront cities’ risk mitigation measures be designed to optimize economic, ecological, and societal outcomes, in both the short and long term?
(2) How can we develop resilient strategies that evolve and adapt with changing risks, while catalyzing economic activity and human and ecosystem wellbeing?
(3) How can coastal waterfront cities’ risks be assessed and effectively and rapidly communicated?
(4) How do policies and governance affect risk mitigation and how can barriers to effective management be overcome?
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