Infrastructure Resilience and Adaptation to Climate Change

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The infrastructure resilience and adaptation to climate change research thematic area seeks to create adaptable, science-informed solutions that strengthen infrastructure against climate-related threats while promoting sustainable practices. 

Example research topics include: 

  • Improving the reliability of infrastructure systems
    Example projects: CLIMA: Climate-resilient infrastructure adaptations for maladaptive levee networks; developing computational methods for estimating rare events probabilities and system reliability; Resilient Arctic coastal communities to coastal hazards
  • Developing sensor technologies for climate adaptation
    Example projects: Understand and forecast long-term variations of in-situ geophysical and geomechanical characteristics of degrading permafrost in the Arctic; quantifying value of information of monitoring systems
  • Optimizing decision-making under uncertainty
    Example projects: Applying partially observable Markov decision process to inform optimal maintenance and protection of infrastructure in the face of climate change; establishing frameworks for risk assessment and optimal mitigation
  • Climate change and hazard interactions
    Example projects: Linking hydroclimatic change and earthquake hazards; Visualizing inland flood hazards in the face of climate change; Coastal infrastructure adaptation under sea level rise; Resilience and adaptation to the effects of permafrost degradation induced coastal erosion; Modeling changes in riverine and coastal flooding with climate change to inform risk management and adaptation
  • Leveraging nature-based solutions
    Example projects: Understanding function of nature-based solutions under climate change; Modeling flood risk reduction and avoided losses due to watershed-scale implementation of nature-based solutions like constructed stormwater wetlands
  • Law, policy, and human dimensions
    Example projects: Tracking adaptation progress; investigating mechanisms and capacities that enable resilience and adaptation; advancing theory and practice of adaptation governance; understanding just resilience and adaptation; linking climate science and decision making; understanding drivers/barriers to implementing green stormwater infrastructure
 
 

About

The Penn State Civil and Environmental Engineering Department, established in 1881, is internationally recognized for excellence in the preparation of undergraduate and graduate engineers through the integration of education, research, and leadership.

Penn State University

Department of Civil & Environmental Engineering

208 Engineering Collaborative Research and Education (ECoRE) Building 

556 White Course Dr 

University Park, PA 16802-1408

Phone: 814-863-3084