URI selected by Homeland Security for coastal resilience research

U.S. SEN. JACK F. Reed said he was pleased that the University of Rhode Island was picked by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security to conduct research to make coastline communities more resilient to severe coastal hazards. / PBN FILE PHOTO
U.S. SEN. JACK F. Reed said he was pleased that the University of Rhode Island was picked by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security to conduct research to make coastline communities more resilient to severe coastal hazards. / PBN FILE PHOTO

NARRAGANSETT – The U.S. Department of Homeland Security has selected the University of Rhode Island to conduct research designed to make coastline communities more resilient to severe coastal hazards.
URI is partnering with Jackson State University, of Mississippi, in the research, and has secured $1 million in funding over the next two years, but could receive up to, or more than, $2.5 million, according to a URI spokesman.
The research will be done in conjunction with the Coastal Resilience Center of Excellence at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, which was founded in 2008 to research and develop safeguards from coastal dangers for the people, properties and economies of the nation’s coasts.
“We are thrilled to be working with the Department of Homeland Security and the University of North Carolina to build coastal resiliency around the nation,” Thomas Miller, director of administration at URI Graduate School of Oceanography, said in a statement.
Miller is leading the research, according to a press release.
“We have a great deal of subject matter expertise in research, applied science and policy development that we can bring to bear to advance many of the ongoing initiatives at the center,” he added.
The research will be broken into three projects. Two are dedicated to design ways for coastal communities to better prepare for rising sea levels, intense hurricanes and “other coastal hazards associated with climate change,” according to the release.
The third project will work toward using technology to simulate how hurricanes hitting coastal communities could affect water flow through coastal oceans and inland watersheds, according to the release.
“We’re looking to better understand and predict what happens when hurricanes make landfall – the storm surge and watershed flooding and other effects – that information can be used to influence policies, planning and management of those hazards,” Chris Kincaid, professor of oceanography, said in a statement.
U.S. Sen. Jack F. Reed lauded URI in a statement.
“I’m proud that URI’s leadership and expertise in coastal resilience has been recognized by Homeland Security through this design and award,” Reed said.
U.S. Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse commented on the importance of this type of research, noting disasters such as Hurricane Sandy that “remind us how important it is to prepare for the threats facing our coastal communities.”
“With the changes underway in our oceans – like rising sea levels and warming waters – we’ll need the best and brightest for the job,” Whitehouse said in a statement. “That’s why I’m glad URI will be able to contribute its considerable skills and knowledge to this effort.”

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