-
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…
-
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…
-
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…
-
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.…
-
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…
-
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…
-
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…
-
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…
-
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…
-
Dr. Brock Woodson participates in international effort to help vulnerable species survive habitat loss
How to design marine protected areas that keep pace with climate change Oct. 26, 2023 An international team has developed the first comprehensive framework for designing networks of marine protected areas that can help vulnerable species survive as climate change drives habitat loss. In a paper published Oct. 26 in One Earth, the researchers outlined…
-
Dr. Matt Bilskie’s research modeling nature-based flood mitigation projects selected for ESLR program funding
Recently, NOAA’s National Center for Coastal Ocean Science (NCCOS) announced that $6.7 million under the Effects of Sea Level Rise (ESLR) program would be spent on coastal resilience projects around the country. We’re very proud that our very own Dr. Matt Bilskie’s work, conducted alongside partners from the U.S. Geological Survey and Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University,…
-
Natural infrastructure is touted as being excellent for biodiversity, but we still have a lot to learn
Water is a powerful force in human well-being and safety, and through history, humans have developed ways to corral, redirect, and store it. Modern engineers and city planners have especially relied on conventional infrastructure, such as levees, seawalls and dams, to ensure that water exists in the places that humans need it—and not it the…
