UTA project monitors Texas Gulf Coast climate hazards

Hummel leads effort to help coastal region develop plan for environmental hazards

Grant and Award Announcement

UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS AT ARLINGTON

 

IMAGE: MICHELLE HUMMEL view more 

CREDIT: UT ARLINGTON

A University of Texas at Arlington civil engineer is leading an interdisciplinary team to help Texas coastal communities and nonprofit organizations better monitor climate and industrial changes in their neighborhoods.

Michelle Hummel, assistant professor in the Department of Civil Engineering, is leading a $2.4 million National Science Foundation-funded project titled “SCC-IRG Track 1: Enabling Smart Cities in Coastal Regions of Environmental and Industrial Change: Building Adaptive Capacity Through Sociotechnical Networks on the Texas Gulf Coast.”

Co-principal investigators include Yonghe Liu, associate professor in the Department of Computer Science and Engineering; Karabi Bezboruah, associate professor of public affairs in the College of Architecture, Planning and Public Affairs (CAPPA); Oswald Jenewein, assistant professor of architecture in CAPPA; and Kathryn Masten, president and CEO of Maritimatix, a consulting firm that specializes in maritime informatics.

“This integrative research grant will apply a mixed-methods approach to assess how sociotechnical networks can be leveraged to build adaptive capacity in the Coastal Bend region of Texas, where communities are facing pressing environmental and industrial threats,” Hummel said. “Given the prevalence of environmental hazards like flooding and erosion and the proximity to energy, chemical and refining industries, it is imperative that the region has a plan.”

The project aims to strengthen multidisciplinary links among technical and social science professionals from academia, government agencies and community groups. The team will develop and deploy real-time environmental sensors to monitor air and water quality and to collect data on potential hazards and impacts.

“We want to provide our partner communities with usable data to strengthen sustainable planning and policies that benefit residents and the environment,” Hummel said.

The project will use the networking power of community-based organizations to assess how to best serve residents of the Coastal Bend. Community workshops and symposia will provide opportunities to evaluate and refine the solutions the research team develops.

“We aim to develop a framework for the collection, analysis and application of data that can be transferred to other communities and regions facing similar environmental and industrial challenges,” Hummel said.

Melanie Sattler, interim chair and professor in the Department of Civil Engineering, said this multidisciplinary project illustrates the far-reaching impact that university research can have on the world.

“This project will engage so many sectors to help coastal regions everywhere,” Sattler said. “Co-developing the research approach with the communities themselves is integral to the success of the project, as these are the people most impacted when something goes wrong. Bringing them into the data-gathering process to find solutions is great.”

Hummel said this project builds on a 2021 one-year planning grant that focused on one community in the Coastal Bend.

“As a result of our work and team-building efforts during our planning grant, we applied for and received this larger four-year, integrative research grant,” she said. “We will be working in the same area but expanding our reach to engage a diverse set of communities and nonprofits throughout the region.”