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The energy sector is continually complicated by aging power infrastructure, changing technology and competing needs from communities and industry. The Critical Infrastructure Resilience Group is here to help make sense of this complex landscape.
The CIRG, a unit of Oak Ridge National Laboratory, works on national research-based solutions for maintaining energy systems and national security. Thomaz Carvalhaes and Hillary Fishler, R&D Staff Scientists at Oak Ridge, join host Alysha to discuss how they combine interdisciplinary expertise to help communities by supporting infrastructure planning, interdependencies, partnerships and governance, and risk assessment.
Some of the topics in this episode include the group's Technical Assistance for States and Tribes Initiative: Grid Resilience Investment Decision-making (TASTI-GRID), the Outage Data Initiative Nationwide (ODIN), and the Enhancing Distribution Grid Anticipatory Resilience (EDGAR).
Haiku:
Storms test the network
new systems reshape the grid
adapt and evolve
Links:
Learn more about the Lab: https://www.ornl.gov/group/critical-infrastructure-resilienceGet in touch with Thomaz: www.linkedin.com/in/tcarvalh
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After a decade working across the Southeast, Jordan Youngmann is seeing his hometown in upstate New York through fresh eyes–and his work is just warming up.
Pre-European colonization, forests looked very different: while many people think of this world as a "pristine" landscape, forest systems across North American were highly regulated by Indigenous groups. Today, these systems are largely fragmented by urban and agricultural spaces, but historically, they were managed by harnessing a force of nature: fire.
Many forest species are not only tolerant of burning, they're built for it. If these systems go too long without a cleansing fire, substances like dry leaf litter can build up, providing fuel to a much bigger fire.
As a wildlife biologist with the New York State Department of Wildlife Conservation, Youngmann is working to reintroduce prescribed fire for these ecosystems, helping protect the species that inhabit them. It's not just a path to conservation–it's a way for us to have a direct relationship with the land that supports us.
Jordan's Haiku:
Fire healing the land
old ways leading us forward
reciprocity
Links:
Jordan's bio: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jordan-youngmann-49727b8b/
Savage State painting, Thomas Cole, 1834: https://explorethomascole.org/project/the-savage-state/
NYDEC Sustainability and Green Infrastructure Grant Proposals: https://dec.ny.gov/get-involved/grant-applications/wqip-program -
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This podcast comes to you from the University of Georgia, a campus that has stretched across the hills of Athens, Georgia since 1785. UGA is situated between the Upper and Middle Oconee Rivers, with tributary creeks flowing all across campus- even right under our football stadium!
This month, hosts Alysha and Todd are joined by fellow UGA colleague Zak Ruehman, Director of Engineering Services here at the Institute for Resilient Infrastructure Systems. Zak's team recently wrapped up an exciting cross-campus collaboration: a flood risk assessment across UGA's campus that shows the places and buildings most at risk.
Keeping the Dawg Walk from becoming... a Doggie Paddle?
Zak's Haiku:
Preparation first
Absorb the punch gracefully
Ready to adaptLinks:
Learn more about the Institute for Resilient Infrastructure's work: https://iris.uga.edu/
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Patrick Keyser knows the grass may not always be greener--but there's still a lot to learn from it.
Since long before European colonization, grasslands have a rich history as one of North America's most diverse, resilient, and iconic landscapes. These ecosystems are the epicenters of agriculture in the US, but native grass species are disappearing as introduced plants take over and land uses change. As a University of Tennessee professor and Director of the Center for Native Grasslands Management, Patrick spreads the gospel of grass.
This month, Patrick joins hosts Alysha and Todd to discuss the history of grasslands, explain the threats they're facing, and dispel some myths about whether you should add native grasses to your yard.
Links:
Patrick's book, Native Grass Forages for the Eastern US (get tips about implementing native grasses in your lawn!): https://nativegrasses.tennessee.edu/native-grass-forages/
Patrick's bio: https://utia.tennessee.edu/person/?id=6343
University of Tennessee Center for Native Grasslands Management: https://nativegrasses.tennessee.edu/ -
This month, Alysha Helmrich is our host and guest! This short episode discusses social-ecological-technological systems and sensemaking. She explores urban systems as SETS, positions SETS thinking for sensemaking, and identifies four modes of SETS to build requisite variety. To learn more, follow the links below!
Links:
Foundational reading on SETS: https://agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1029/2018EF000926
Main perspective discussed regarding SETS and sensemaking: https://www.nature.com/articles/s42949-023-00120-1
SETS in Phoenix, AZ: https://link.springer.com/article/10.1186/s43065-023-00085-6
Alysha's Haiku:
City not alone
Small decisions ripple wide
For the next design -
In the face of immense global and national change, the world’s oldest engineering society is staying flexible.
The American Society for Civil Engineers President, Marsha Bomar, joins our host Alysha Helmrich to speak to the power of diverse perspectives in building the future’s infrastructure and the need for interdisciplinary teams in solving great challenges.
Alysha and Marsha also discuss the workforce shortage in the field of engineering, and how bright minds from all walks of life should consider stepping up to fill the gap. Finally, they cover the history of the ASCE Infrastructure Report Card, a data-driven report that the society delivers to each state on an annual basis, grading the state’s infrastructure on its current condition, future needs, operation and maintenance, public safety and resilience and innovation.
Tune in to learn more about ASCE’s bright, resilient future and ways to get involved!
Marsha's Haiku:
Trains race on steel tracks
Tires trace the open road
Water flows for life
Learn more about ASCE: https://www.asce.org/
Check out all the ways you can be a part of ASCE: https://www.asce.org/membership
Check out Cities of the Future in IMAX: https://www.asce.org/publications-and-news/civil-engineering-source/article/2024/02/16/a-cities-of-the-future-primer-everything-you-need-to-know-about-asces-new-movie
ASCE 2027: https://experience.asce.org/?gad_source=1&gad_campaignid=23353598541&gbraid=0AAAAADhKo5K2trfb3rawiirtIdOXU3Pe4&gclid=EAIaIQobChMI8p_v-oC0kgMV3DYIBR1xkTSnEAAYASAAEgJKpvD_BwE -
Disasters are affecting more people and property than ever before. Since 1980, the U.S. has experienced 400+ weather-related "billion dollar" disasters, $3 trillion in economic impacts, and thousands of lives and livelihoods. In the effort to build our disaster resilience as a society, what's the role of insurance?
In this episode, our hosts are joined by Carolyn Kousky, Insurance for Good, and Marc Ragin, University of Georgia Terry College of Business. This month's guests discuss a question at the heart of disaster insurance: what's the best way to incentivize risk reduction for both insurance companies and customers?
If you're curious about how disaster insurance works, options for making insurance better suited for new risks, or why premiums are getting so darn high, this is the episode for you.Marc's Haiku:
High insurance rates
We need collective action
Take your vitamins
Carolyn's Haiku, written by Matsuo Bashō (translated from Japanese):
As they begin to rise again
Chrysanthemums faintly smell
after the flooding rain
Learn more about UGA and Duke's CIRCAD partnership: https://circad.org/
Carolyn's book: https://islandpress.org/books/understanding-disaster-insurance#descCarolyn's nonprofit, Insurance for Good: https://www.insuranceforgood.org/
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What did you do during the COVID-19 social distancing era? Some of us learned to make sourdough, some of us perfected a viral whipped coffee, plenty of us did a whole lot of nothing- but this NYC subculture was busy taking notes.
Anna Bounds, a Professor of Sociology at Queens College, has felt called to teach, write, and tell stories for a long time. She's particularly passionate about urban policies that make cities better, stronger and more vibrant.
As a sociologist–but also as a New Yorker–she began attending meetings of NYC's "prepper" community: a group of people dedicated to preparing for disasters the government may not be equipped to help with, whether it's a pandemic, terrorist attack or natural disaster.
Anna clarifies: they aren't preparing for the end of the world- just whatever kind of day tomorrow might be. She's spent years (including before the pandemic) researching these groups while also learning countless skills for emergency preparation and response.
"All sorts of interesting people [were] coming together to figure out how to help each other in crisis- and it paid off."
So forget viral food trends! This episode pairs best with assembling your emergency kit (and yes, Anna has suggestions for it).
Anna's Haiku* ("A Love Letter to the City"):
Smoke clings to the sky
Hands meet through sirens and headlines
Love that doesn't flinch
(*With special thanks to Anna's 7th grade teacher)
Links:
Anna's book, Urban Preppers and the Pandemic in New York City: Class, Resilience, and Sheltering in Place: https://www.annamariabounds.org/urban-preppers
Anna's first book, Bracing for the Apocalypse: An Ethnographic Study of New York City's Urban Prepper Subculture: https://www.annamariabounds.org/book/apocalypse -
California relies on the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta as a hub for water, biodiversity, agriculture, recreation, and more. How can we make sure that management actions are working as intended?
Returning guest Stephen Elser is a Senior Environmental Scientist with the Delta Stewardship Council, which works to advance California's coequal goals: a more reliable water supply and a resilient Delta ecosystem. Broadly, Stephen's team is tasked with supporting the use of adaptive management to enhance conservation and sustainable use of the Delta.
Adaptive management is a flexible approach to managing natural resources that allows for continuous learning, resulting in management decisions based on what was learned rather than simply implementing without regard for scientific feedback or monitoring. Management actions can be viewed as hypotheses to be tested, with the goal of continuous improvement while reducing uncertainty.
Stephen explains the process of adaptive management, and why it's so important in complex ecosystems like the Delta.
Stephen's Haiku:
Uncertain futures
But we know a lot, let's act
Learning as we go
-Read more about the Delta Stewardship Council at their website.
-Follow this link to learn more about the Council's adaptive management work, and to find resources on developing adaptive management plans.
-The 2025 Adaptive Management Forum will be held on October 14-15! Follow this link to learn more about this free event and to register to attend either in-person or online.
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Have you ever asked your garbage truck where it's going?
Sybil Derrible is a professor of civil engineering at the University of Illinois Chicago, focusing on urban engineering- studying large systems of power and movement inspired by the tiny island he calls his hometown. Living in a tight community (and with parents that owned a hardware store), Sybil grew up knowing where his water and energy came from- and now, he wants you to learn about yours too.
In this episode, Sybil joins us to discuss his new book, aptly titled The Infrastructure Book. He chose to write this book because he felt that his work needed to be communicated to the public. He feels that people need to understand how their infrastructure works: not just roads and bridges, but the energy systems, water distribution, telecommunications, waste disposal and more that happen behind the scenes.
Sybil's Haiku:
It breathes not, but lives
It makes it all possible
Infrastructure rocks!
Links:
Check out The Infrastructure Book here: https://csun.uic.edu/the-infrastructure-book/
Learn more about Sybil's work: https://sybilderrible.com/ -
This month, we’re proud to introduce an in-house effort at the Institute for Resilient Infrastructure Systems: the Georgia Statewide Resilience Assessment.
Commissioned by The Pew Charitable Trusts and conducted by the Institute for Resilient Infrastructure Systems at UGA, this report brings together insight from across the sectors, stakeholders and systems of Georgia. The outcome: a review of our hazards and challenges, as well as some opportunities, exemplary projects, and recommendations for creating a more resilient Georgia.
The research process for this report involved holding in-person and virtual discussions across the state to gain a wide array of perspectives. In this episode, we bring you a few of the people who were present at some of those meetings to discuss the project and state resilience planning as a whole.
Featuring:
Kristiane Huber, Officer, US Conservation, The Pew Charitable Trusts
Lynn Abdouni, Associate Research Scientist, Institute for Resilient Infrastructure Systems
Summer Modelfino, Deputy Chief Resilience Officer, Maryland Office of Resilience
Alan Robertson, AWR Strategic Consulting, Tybee Island, Georgia
And yes, Alan brought a haiku!
Recover, adapt
Always planning for a more
Resilient future
Links:
Read the report here: https://iris.uga.edu/resilience-planning-for-the-state-of-georgia/
Watch the webinar on state resilience planning here: https://iris.uga.edu/resilience-planning-for-the-state-of-georgia/
Learn more about the Maryland Office of Resilience: https://resilientmaryland.com/
Learn more about resilience efforts in Tybee Island: https://resilienttybee.com/ -
Cynthia Kierner, historian, self-declared "non-21st century person," and Mets fan, is deeply interested in the role of disturbances across American history- hurricanes, earthquakes, and disease, oh my. In her book, Inventing Disaster: The Culture of Calamity from the Jamestown Colony to the Johnstown Flood, she reviews the history of natural disasters and how we respond to them across time and space in the United States.
Hosts Alysha and Todd join their guest in asking colossal questions on cataclysms: How do governments simultaneously prepare for risks at local, regional and national levels? What role do community outsiders play in disaster prevention and recovery? Can the government make you wear a seatbelt?
From Philadelphia's yellow fever epidemic of 1793 to the worldwide shutdown of COVID-19, disturbances shape communities in a major way. In this episode, we review the life cycle of natural disasters and how they impact communities today... and tomorrow.
Cynthia's Haiku (An Ode to Jersey City):
Superstorm Sandy
Rollercoaster in the sea
Inspiring disaster
Links:
Inventing Disaster: The Culture of Calamity from the Jamestown Colony to the Johnstown Flood: https://uncpress.org/book/9781469652528/inventing-disaster/
Rethinking American Disasters (NEW): https://lsupress.org/9780807179932/rethinking-american-disasters/
Bio: https://historyarthistory.gmu.edu/people/ckierner -
We know that green spaces are good for you. They provide benefits to air quality, biodiversity, and even your mental health... but why?
Returning guest Joeri Morpurgo, a postdoctoral fellow at Universiteit Leiden in the Netherlands, set out with his team to answer this question. They found an important distinction: not all green spaces are created equal.
The team also investigated the various benefits of green space, and found natural variables to attribute them to: lower air temperatures were directly related to tree heights, soil quality promotes water storage, and so on. Every green space has unique characteristics that give it unique, nuanced benefits. In this episode, Joeri joins hosts Alysha and Todd to talk about why distinction between outdoor spaces is so important.
Joeri's Haiku:
Lush green fill the streets
Yet life and function diverge
Features shape what they give
Links:
Joeri's Bio: https://www.universiteitleiden.nl/en/staffmembers/joeri-morpurgo#tab-1
Joeri's Publications: https://scholar.google.nl/citations?user=PHxx0pIAAAAJ&hl=nlPre-print of Joeri's newest pub: https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-5841194/v1
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The Mississippi River Basin covers over a million square miles across the southeast and midwest US. Despite growing up far away in the northeast US, Boyce Upholt thinks about the nation's largest waterway more than most: he's the author of "The Great River: The Making and Unmaking of the Mississippi." The book began nearly eight years earlier with a paddling trip, a sunken steamboat, and love-at-first-sight for the iconic southern river.
Upholt speaks to our hosts Alysha and Todd about his intertwining passions for history and nature, and why this work centers on "the Great River." The book covers how humans have thought about, related to, and altered the region over centuries, and how the river changes to meet us in new ways.
"We know it's out there, this sort of heart beating in the middle of America, but most Americans don't know what it looks like."
Boyce's Haiku (The Edgelands Wander Haiku):
Shopping cart half-sunk
Into the crust-dried batture mud
Nothing lasts too long
Links:
Check out the book: https://www.boyceupholt.com/
Southlands Magazine, a new project by Boyce Upholt, is launching later this year: https://www.boyceupholt.com/southlands -
Emmanuel Stone was raised to love good food: his mother, a restaurant owner, inspired him to teach culinary arts, learn about agriculture, and emphasize the importance of whole foods. This led him to Athens Land Trust: an organization that simultaneously encourages conservation and community in Athens, GA where UGA is located.
Stone serves as the Strategic Partnerships Director for ALT. From his office at Williams Farm, a space where ALT houses their offices as well as a community garden, sustainable farming classes for both youth and adults, and counseling for homebuyers, he explained the model ALT uses to simultaneously provide affordable housing, educational resources, and whole foods to the Athens community.
"We see these things all as connected," he said. "The Trust tries to do many things, but the main thread connecting all these areas of work is that we see how community development takes many shapes."
Whether you're interested in sustainable communities, agriculture, buying a house, or just hearing us chat about food- this episode is for you!
Links:
Learn more about Athens Land Trust here: https://athenslandtrust.org/
Emmanuel Stone Bio: https://athenslandtrust.org/staff_member/emmanuel-stone/
ALT Workshops and Classes: https://athenslandtrust.org/classes-events/
Upcountry Oyster Roast: https://athenslandtrust.org/classes-events/oyster-roast/ -
This month's guest is someone close to home for our team- meet Alysha's PhD student, Negin Shamsi! Negin gives an overview of her first first-author publication, titled, "Interdependency classification: a framework for infrastructure resilience."
Shamsi's research focus is infrastructure and urban resilience. Infrastructure managers collaborate across engineering, urban planning, emergency response, policy making and more. The goal of Shamsi's research, including the new paper, is to better prepare all of these fields for disturbances from hurricanes to cyber attacks.
"These systems do not function in isolation, they are interdependent and if one system fails, it will have effects on other systems as well," she said. "When we talk about interdependencies, especially in the past, people think about vulnerabilities, cascading failures- something negative. But recently, there has been a changing perspective: we can look at them as an opportunity for collaboration and innovation."Check out the new paper here: https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/2634-4505/adac89/pdf
Negin's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/negin-shamsi-b6736b160/
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How big does an urban garden need to be to support pollinators and other important insects? What kinds of plants lead to the most biodiverse space? How should homeowners manage their gardens to support the natural world?
Get the full garden scoop with PhD researcher Joeri Morpurgo, from University Leiden in the Netherlands! Morpurgo and his colleagues visited urban gardens throughout Amsterdam and counted all the different plant and insect species they could find.
Some key findings? Gardens can be small but mighty--as long as there's dense foliage and a plethora of plant species, they supported a variety of insect species. And one controversial finding: native vs. non-native plant species didn't seem to make a difference to insect diversity.
Hear Morpurgo's take on his findings, and his urban garden management recommendations on the podcast!
Related links:
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1618866724003297
https://www.universiteitleiden.nl/en/news/2024/07/pavement-gardens-are-crucial-to-urban-biodiversity -
Big, leafy shade trees, burbling creeks, and access to recreation in beautiful natural areas: most people intuitively know that these kinds of natural amenities create pleasant communities, and houses located close to these kinds of resources tend to sell for more than those without. What folks often aren't thinking about is the fact that these resources have other benefits too--including filtering stormwater, sequestering carbon, and cooling neighborhoods. But how can we use policy to help encourage developers to adopt these policies from the start? And how can policy backfire in helping create equitably distributed natural resources for communities?
Michael Drescher, Associate Professor in the School of Planning and Adam Skoyles, PhD student at the University of Waterloo, joined host Alysha Helmrich to discuss these questions and more.
Drescher is the Director of the Residential Development Impact Scorecard for the Environment (RISE) project, which "Aims to better understand the longer-term impacts of urban residential developments on greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and seeks to measure the effectiveness of GHG mitigation efforts of green infrastructure." Learn more about how RISE is working to help institute permanent changes in the development sector through their scorecard on the podcast! -
Lauren McPhillips didn't always dream of being a professor, but she knew she loved solving problems.
After earning three degrees in Earth systems science and environmental engineering at Cornell University, McPhillips completed a postdoctoral research fellowship at Arizona State University, where she met our host Alysha. Now, she's working on ecological and water resources engineering problems from green stormwater infrastructure to solar implementation. In her position as a researcher and assistant professor at Penn State's Institute for Energy & the Environment, she studies how best to implement solar power across ecosystems while preserving ecosystem services in proposed solar fields.
Solar farms get a lot of pushback due to their potential to interrupt ecosystems, whether they're just taking up important habitat space or actually causing harm through increased erosion or stormwater runoff. But McPhillips argues that, when done carefully, solar power could be just the nature-positive energy solution we need.
Lauren's Haiku:
Solar energy
Can keep nature's benefits
Could be a win-winGuest Bio: https://iee.psu.edu/people/lauren-mcphillips
McPhillips' Lab Website: https://sites.psu.edu/lmcphillips/ -
Water is a natural resource all of us rely on, but there's a lot of thought and work that goes into being able to turn on your tap. How do we make sure water is accessible to everyone? Who does a water source belong to? And why is getting water out West so complicated?
This month, hosts Alysha and Todd are joined by Dr. Ben Rachunok, an assistant professor at the Edward P. Fitts Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering at NC State University. Rachunok studies how communities evaluate and respond to water rights, climate risk and natural hazards. Costs of water and climate action are not equally distributed across space, and low-income households often pay a higher price for water access- and during periods of water scarcity.
With examples from the Carolinas to California, the group explores the surprising interconnections in the world of water rights and affordability, the role of policy in risk management, and how at-risk communities manage climate threats.
Check out the recent paper they discuss in this episode: Socio-hydrological drought impacts on urban water affordability (https://www.nature.com/articles/s44221-022-00009-w)
And this "companion paper" for more context: The unequal burdens of water scarcity (https://www.nature.com/articles/s44221-022-00016-x)
Ben's haiku:
Droughts raise water's price
Low-income homes bear the cost
Thirst deepens the gap
Bio: https://ise.ncsu.edu/people/barachun/ - Visa fler
