The Texas A&M University System Awards $165,000 in Grants for Emergency Management Applied Research at TDEM Symposium
COLLEGE STATION, Texas— The Texas A&M University System awarded $165,000 in grant funding for emergency management applied research projects to academic researchers following a symposium hosted by the Texas Division of Emergency Management (TDEM).
At the Texas Emergency Management Applied Research Symposium in late February, seventeen researchers presented applied use cases for emergency management practitioners. Local, state, and federal emergency management professionals scored the research proposals based on the value to the field of emergency management, impact on the public, feasibility of implementation, clarity of language, and scalability across jurisdictions.
The event in College Station is an additional effort by TDEM and The Texas A&M University System to bridge the gap in communication between academic institutions and emergency managers.
“I look forward to working with local and state officials as well as leaders in science and academics to operationalize the important projects presented at this symposium,” said Texas Emergency Management Chief Nim Kidd. “I thank the researchers whose work, knowledge, and innovation will benefit Texans in the years to come, and I am grateful for the expertise provided by emergency management professionals who scored these proposals."
The top ten proposals were selected to receive grant funding.
The following applied use cases were awarded $20,000 in grant funding:
Use of the Houston Lightning Mapping Array to aid in mitigating lightning strike damage to life and property – Timothy Logan, Assistant Professor in the Department of Atmospheric Sciences at Texas A&M University
Structure and Operation of Long-term Recovery Groups – Michelle Meyer, Director and Associate Professor in the Hazard Reduction and Recovery Center (HRRC) at Texas A&M University; Mason Alexander-Hawk, HRRC
Automated Rapid Building Damage Assessment using Satellite Imagery – Ali Mostafavi, Associate Professor and Director of UrbanResilience.AI Lab, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Texas A&M University; Cheng-Chun (Barry) Lee, Post-Doctoral Research Associate in the UrbanResilience.AI Lab
The following use cases will receive $15,000 in grant funding:
A Web-Based GIS Platform and Applications for Evacuation Preparedness, Response, Mitigation, and Recovery Planning: The Texas Hazard Resilience Atlases – Walter Gillis Peacock, Professor in the Department of Landscape Architecture and Urban Planning and the Hazard Reduction and Recovery Center (HRRC), Texas A&M University; Doug Wunneburger, Instructional Professor, Department of Landscape Architecture and Urban Planning and the HRRC; David Bierling, Program Manager and Senior Research Scientist, Houston Area Research & Implementation, Texas A&M Transportation Institute, and Director for Transportation Research with the HRRC; Alexander Abuabara, Post-Doctoral Research Associate, Department of Landscape Architecture and Urban Planning and the HRRC
An Examination of Business Disruption and Recovery Post Hurricane Harvey in Southeast Texas – Michelle Meyer, Director and Associate Professor in the Hazard Reduction and Recovery Center (HRRC) at Texas A&M University; Joy Semien, Graduate Research Assistant and PhD Candidate in the HRRC; Maria Watson, Assistant Professor in the Shimberg Center for Housing Studies at the University of Florida
Technological Hazard Information for Enhancing Community Preparedness and Response – David Bierling, Program Manager and Senior Research Scientist, Houston Area Research & Implementation, Texas A&M Transportation Institute, and Director for Transportation Research with the Hazard Reduction and Recovery Center (HRRC); Bradley A. Trefz, Assistant Research Scientist, Multimodal Freight Program, Texas A&M Transportation Institute
Optimizing the Use of Volunteers in Disaster Rescue and Response – J. Carlee Purdum, Assistant Research Professor in the Hazard Reduction & Recovery Center (HRRC) at Texas A&M University; Michelle Meyer, Director and Associate Professor in the HRRC; Brant Mitchell, Former Deputy Director of the Louisiana Governor’s Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Preparedness
The Plan Integration for Resilience Scorecard (PIRS)™ – Siyu Yu, Assistant Professor in the Department of Landscape Architecture & Urban Planning at Texas A&M University; Matthew Malecha, Instructional Assistant Professor in the Department of Landscape Architecture & Urban Planning; Jamie Masterson, Director, Texas Target Communities
Harnessing Big Data and Al to Augment Disaster Situational Awareness – Ali Mostafavi, Associate Professor and Director of UrbanResilience.AI Lab, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Texas A&M University; Yuqin Jiang, Post-Doctoral Research Associate, UrbanResilience.AI Lab, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering
Flood Information and Response System (FIRST) for the City of Houston – Andrew Juan, Associate Research Scientist in the Institute for a Disaster Resilient Texas at Texas A&M University Galveston; Nick Fang, Associate Professor in Civil Engineering Department at the University of Texas at Arlington; Philip Bedient, Herman and George R. Brown Professor of Civil Engineering and Director of the SSPEED Center at Rice University
A list of all of the emergency management use case proposals presented at the symposium can be viewed on TDEM’s website.
(Photo: Texas Division of Emergency Management/Frank Hicks)
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