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News from a Department of Homeland Security Science & Technology Directorate Office of University Programs-funded Center of Excellence
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October 2017

Dr. Rick Luettich discussed Hurricane Harvey live on MSNBC on Sept. 9.

CRC in the news discussing hurricane season


The Coastal Resilience Center of Excellence has been involved in several media reports from major national and international outlets in August and September, as Hurricane Harvey deluged Texas and hurricanes Irma and Maria hit Puerto Rico, Florida and the Southeastern states. We were featured in stories by The Associated Press, The New York Times, KPCC (Los Angeles NPR affiliate), BBC World Service, MSNBC and The Guardian, among others.
 
See all of the appearances CRC leadership have made on our In the News page, and see our researchers’ expertise on the Hurricane Season 2017 page.

Matthew recovery team plans with Princeville


Princeville Community Design WorkshopSeveral hundred Princeville, N.C., residents attended a multi-day Community Design Workshop, held Aug. 25-29 in neighboring Tarboro, to design a plan for a more flood-resilient future. The event was co-sponsored by the town of Princeville, Edgecombe County, the CRC, North Carolina State University College of Design, North Carolina Emergency Management and the N.C. Governor’s Recovery Office.
 
The five-day workshop brought together teams of land use planners, engineers, architects and landscape architects to collaborate with local, state and federal officials to develop three scenarios for a 52-acre tract of land that the state intends to buy. The parcel is intended for houses, businesses, infrastructure, public facilities and community open space in ways that ensure that the new space connects physically, socially, environmentally and economically to historic portions of town. 

Led by CRC Director Dr. Gavin Smith, faculty and students from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill’s Department of City and Regional Planning, joined forces with faculty and students from the NCSU College of Design for this effort. See more media coverage of the event on our website.

Former CRC student helps with Puerto Rico recovery
 

USACE team assisting Puerto Rico recoveryA graduate of a CRC education program is part of a U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) team aiding in Hurricane Irma recovery, and expects to be back to aid recovery from Hurricane Maria.

Matrix McDaniel, a spring 2016 graduate of Jackson State University in Jackson, Miss. who earned his Bachelor of Science degree in Civil Engineering, is part of a 14-person USACE Memphis District team responding to impacts of Hurricane Irma in Puerto Rico. The team arrived in the island territory on Sept. 11 to provide technical expertise and “turn-key” installation of FEMA emergency generators at critical public facilities, such as hospitals and shelters.

McDaniel is currently pursuing his Master of Science degree in Engineering with a Coastal Engineering concentration at Jackson State University. His graduate education has been supported by the Education and Workforce Development program of the Department of Homeland Security Office of University Programs. Read more on our website.

How to follow storm surge forecasts in real time
 

When hurricanes and tropical storms approach the United States, a group of organizations focusing on storm surge projections provides regular updates through adcirc.org. The community on Twitter just got larger – users can now see updates by following Dr. Rick Luettich, CERA Storm Surge as well as the CRC. Follow these accounts during storm events to see storm surge predictions as National Hurricane Center forecasts change.

Read about work done in our summer exchanges


For the second summer, undergraduate and graduate students in CRC education programs were involved in a wide variety of academic exchange and professional internship programs, providing them the opportunity to gain important research skills and experience designed to aid their academic and future careers. 
 
Dr. Casey Dietrich with JCSU studentsEight students who are enrolled in CRC-supported courses at partner universities were hosted by principal investigators of CRC research projects through the SUMmer Research EXperience (SUMREX) Program. As part of the program, CRC Education & Workforce Development partners arrange for one or more students to visit the home institution of participating CRC researchers for a summer research internship lasting between 6-10 weeks.

Key to the program’s success is making the best match between the student interns and the research PIs, so that the students have the opportunity to become fully immersed in a research project. Read more on our website.
 
Also this past summer, Old Dominion University hosted a summer research team led by Norfolk State University faculty members Dr. Camellia Okpodu and Dr. Bernadette Holmes as part of an interdisciplinary, multi-institution collaborative summer research project. 
 
The project was titled “A Systems Approach:  Developing Cross-Site Multiple Drivers to Understand Climate Change, Sea-level Rise and Coastal Flooding for an African American Community in Portsmouth, VA.” The project included five students, three from NSU and two from ODU. Read more in our News section.

 

Project teaches disaster response as disaster management


In the 10 years between 2003-2012, natural disasters caused estimated global losses of more than $150 billion and the loss of more than 100,000 lives per year. Recovery from these disasters involves emergency management activities paid for by federal, state and local agencies and organizations.
 
For her project with the CRC, Dr. Sandra Knight treats post-disaster recovery and building of resilience as a large-scale project that can be approached through project management frameworks.
 
The project led by Dr. Knight, “Development and Testing of a Project Management Curriculum for Emergency Managers,” at the University of Maryland (UMD) focuses on developing a curriculum to improve project management skills in the emergency management community. Read more on our website.

Learn about our students
and find job, funding opportunities

 

We are always posting new openings in coastal sciences and disaster management from our partners and fellow centers on our Opportunities page.
 
You can learn about the students involved in our projects and educational programs on our Students page.

Puerto Rico after Maria

Finding photos and videos

 

Want to see PIs explain their projects? Check out a playlist on the CRC YouTube account!

Want to find photos from our researchers’ and students’ work in the field? Head over to our Flickr page!
 
Copyright © 2017 Coastal Resilience Center, All rights reserved.