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September 2021

Report: Support Strategies for Socially Marginalized Neighborhoods



From the report: Who are most impacted by natural hazards?

A Coastal Resilience Center research team, led by Dr. Cassandra R. Davis of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, recently released a report that explores the disproportionate impacts of federal mitigation assistance on socially marginalized groups and under-resourced neighborhoods. The purpose of the report, Support Strategies for Socially Marginalized Neighborhoods Likely Impacted by Natural Hazards, is to improve mitigation efforts by addressing equity in emergency management, ultimately supporting the creation of national policy for federal organizations including FEMA, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, and others.

Tropical Storm Henri provides opportunity to test ADCIRC Prediction System real-time modeling capabilities

As the weekend of August 21, 2021 drew near, it became increasingly evident that Tropical Storm Henri would not only impact Southern New England, but could become a hurricane before making landfall. The situation gave researchers at the University of Rhode Island (URI) a chance to test out the real-time storm modeling capabilities of the Rhode Island Coastal Hazards, Analysis, and Modeling Prediction (RICHAMP) system, a Department of Homeland Security-supported project which advances storm model capabilities and develops a near real-time hazard and impact prediction system for hurricanes and nor’easters in Southern New England. See the full story.


Above: an example of the RICHAMP pilot test visualization during TS Henri showing the inundation forecast for the Southern New England coast.

Report: Diversifying the Homeland Security Enterprise

Since 2015, the Coastal Resilience Center of Excellence (CRC), led by the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and Jackson State University and funded by the Department of Homeland Security, Science and Technology Directorate’s Office of University Programs, have advanced educational and community service opportunities across its network of Minority Serving Institutional (MSI) partners.
Late this last spring, the CRC produced a summary report which highlights all of the successful projects, programs, and outcomes from the partnerships with the participating MSIs.



Johnson C. Smith University student William Case presented on behalf of his student team at the COE Summit 2019 Grand Challenge event. Case's team won second place. Photo by Chris A. Johns.

In Memoriam: Dr. Scott Hagen

We are saddened to share that Dr. Scott Hagen, professor and Louisiana Sea Grant Laborde Chair in the department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at Louisiana State University, died on July 24, 2021. Dr. Hagen was a long-time principal investigator, colleague and friend of the Coastal Resilience Center. His latest CRC project, Development of an Optimized Tide and Hurricane Storm Surge Model for the West Coast of FL for Use with the ADCIRC Surge Guidance System, helped to transition a research-grade tide, wind-wave and hurricane storm surge ADCIRC model of the west coast of Florida for forecasting within the ADCIRC Prediction System.

Photo of Dr. Scott Hagen

Dr. Scott Hagen

Previous CRC researcher Dr. Stephen Medeiros says of Hagen, “I feel immensely fortunate to have had Scott as my doctoral advisor, mentor, collaborator, and friend. He knew how to lead truly interdisciplinary work, making it more than simply assembling the efforts of individual contributors. His ability to achieve stated goals while allowing space for experimentation and exploration was astounding. His advice over the years was helpful not only in my pursuit of professional success, but also a meaningful and fulfilling life.”

Dr. Rick Luettich, lead principal investigator for the CRC, said, “I had the great pleasure of knowing Scott from his days as a graduate student until his passing. During this time he made substantial contributions to coastal engineering and science and was a strong advocate for coastal resilience. He was a most gracious colleague and a good friend who will be greatly missed within the coastal community.”

Additional information about Hagen's career and professional accomplishments can be found at:
https://www.thegazette.com/obituaries/scott-charles-hagen/
https://www.lsu.edu/eng/news/2021/08/scotthagen.php
https://www.asce.org/communities/institutes-and-technical-groups/coasts-ports-oceans-rivers-institute/news/in-memoriam-dr-scott-hagen
http://champs.cecs.ucf.edu/Pictures/Pictures.htm

Report: Evaluating Hydroanalytic Information

With support from the Department of Homeland Security Science and Technology Directorate and the U.S. Army Engineer Research and Development Center (ERDC) Coastal and Hydraulics Laboratory (CHL), lead author Dr. Sandra K. Knight, President of WaterWonks LLC, has released a new report in partnership with the Coastal Resilience Center, Evaluating Hydroanalytic Information. The report asserts that revolutionary changes are occurring in data and modeling analytics, and that hydroanalytics – broadly defined as any analytic data and models that involve water-related processes – will by necessity be transformed as basic applications morph to more advanced applications.


The model evaluation cycle.

CRC in the news

As we make our way through each hurricane season, CRC researchers are often called upon by the media to offer insights on CRC-related enhancements to federal forecasting capabilities or improvements to planning for disasters.

Some of this year's media engagements so far include:

See more coverage of our researchers at https://unc.live/3fcjAaD. For hurricane season-specific content, visit https://unc.live/2ROcxIf. We ask that when any of our CRC researchers are contacted by media for hurricane or other natural disaster-related interviews, please let CRC communications manager Matt Bryant know by emailing him at mbryant1@unc.edu. This information is used to update the CRC website and for our reporting to the Department of Homeland Security.

Students from CRC partners win awards at COE Summit


COE conference logo

This last spring, two students from CRC partners won second and third place in a national poster competition for students across Department of Homeland Security-funded Centers of Excellence this month.

Kyle McElroy, a graduate student from the University of Rhode Island, and Verónica Díaz-Pacheco, and undergraduate student at the University of Puerto Rico-Mayagüez, won second and third place, respectively, in the student poster contest at the 2021 Centers of Excellence Summit held May 19-20, 2021. The event is held by the Centers of Excellence funded by the DHS’s Science & Technology Directorate’s Office of University Programs.

McElroy, a graduate student working with Dr. Austin Becker, developed a poster titled “Rhode Island Coastal Hazard, Analysis, Modeling, and Prediction system (RICHAMP).” Díaz, who worked with Dr. Mauricio Cabrera-Ríos and CRC’s Thomas Richardson and Dr. Robert Whalin of Jackson State University as part of the Summer Research Teams program supported by DHS and Oak Ridge Associated Universities, developed a poster on “Individual Emergency Response and Recovery: A Learning Experience from Hurricane Maria.”

Both posters are included on on this page, which includes work presented at the 2021 CRC annual meeting. These presentations are also on a playlist that you can view on our YouTube page.

Funding and research opportunities

Sea Grant and APNEP set Oct. 29 deadline for fellowship applications: The Albemarle-Pamlico National Estuary Partnership and North Carolina Sea Grant are accepting applications for the 2022 Graduate Fellowship in Estuarine Research.

 NC Sea Grant launches Student Team Competition on Resilience: The program will provide up to $20,000 for student teams to conduct two-year projects that will lead to more resilient habitats and communities on the North Carolina coastal plain.

To submit CRC-related funding, internship, and research opportunities for the e-newsletter, please send all relevant info to Matt Bryant, mbryant1@unc.edu.

New CRC Instagram and LinkedIn pages, call for content

The CRC now has a new Instagram and LinkedIn page! For our website and social media channels, we would like to feature any news and updates related to our researchers, students, industry and government partners, and the communities we work with. This includes any images, videos, or links that we can feature on our website and social media. We're interested in documenting any of your CRC-related activities and events, including behind-the-scenes and did-you-know? type content. Please reach out to Matt Bryant with any content, mbryant1@unc.edu, and be sure to follow and engage with us on our social media channels below.

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The Coastal Resilience Center is funded by a grant from the
Department of Homeland Security Science & Technology Directorate.
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