UGA Institute for Resilient Infrastructure Systems

When decision-makers consider whether to invest in nature-based infrastructure, they often don’t have the full picture. Researchers at the University of Georgia’s Institute for Resilient Infrastructure have partnered with the Walton Family Foundation to change that.

A major part of choosing what projects to invest in implementing is estimating what benefits they’ll return– and sometimes more importantly, if those benefits measure up to what they’ll cost.

But traditional cost-benefit analyses often take a narrow view of what those benefits are. Widening our definition of “benefits” to include things that aren’t easily measured in currency–protection from floods, water storage during droughts, wildlife habitat, recreational value, and more–can help us make more informed decisions about our infrastructure investments.

Read more about how we took a closer look at the benefits of nature-based engineering: https://iris.uga.edu/2026/06/16/working-with-nature-pays-off-uga-study-finds-natural-infrastructure-delivers-returns-of-up-to-8-to-1/

As soon as the semester ends, we start preparing for the next one. For our ENVE 8330 course, the checklist goes beyond textbooks and laptops: this syllabus recommends, among other field gear, boots you don't mind sinking into muck.

Over a long weekend each semester, students trade lecture rooms for salt marshes, barrier islands and historic sites, in order to immerse themselves in the real-world ways communities on the coast are managing changing shorelines.

“They can see that these are not abstract problems,” said Dan Coleman, one of the course instructors. “These are real places, real systems and real communities.”

Read more: https://iris.uga.edu/2026/05/13/out-of-the-classroom-into-the-wild-students-gain-field-experiences-in-natural-infrastructure/

Don’t mind us, just reminiscing on our time with these amazing students that are taking flight this year 🥹

Congratulations to our spring & summer 2026 grads:

Clare DeBerry, MS Engineering, Environmental Engineering
Nazife Oruc Baci, PhD Engineering, Environment and Water
Orlando Viloria Marimon, PhD Engineering, Environment and Water
Noah Cleveland, Master of Landscape Architecture
Shishir Rao, PhD Integrative Conservation & Sustainability, Ecology
Jackson Robider, MS Engineering, Environmental Engineering
Madison LePain, MS Engineering, Environmental Engineering
Katie Kahn, MS Engineering, Civil & Environmental Engineering

We could not be more proud of you!

This week, the University of Georgia is celebrating exceptional faculty, staff, alumni and students during Honors Week, a spring tradition to highlight excellence around campus.

The Institute for Resilient Infrastructure Systems is honored to have been recognized with a Team Impact Award. Established by the UGA Research Foundation, these awards recognize exceptional, sustained research and creativity.

“The Institute for Resilient Infrastructure Systems (IRIS) is redefining how infrastructure systems are designed to protect communities in a rapidly changing world,” said UGA Today. “IRIS demonstrates how interdisciplinary team science can translate complex research into durable benefits for communities worldwide.”

Thank you to our incredible team of researchers, staff and students who help build the path to a more resilient future! 👏

Salt marshes are the quiet heroes of the coast, working behind the scenes to sequester carbon, buffer coastal towns from flooding and provide beautiful recreation spaces for tourists and locals alike.

In a new $1.5 million grant through the U.S. IOOS Coastal and Ocean Modeling Testbed, University of Georgia researchers are part of a national effort to better understand the benefits salt marshes provide, and the risks they face from rising seas.

Dr. Matt Bilskie, Associate Professor in the College of Engineering, is leading the UGA team in comparing model predictions of historic marsh change to contribute to a framework for understanding the longevity and future flood mitigation capacity of our coastal marshes.

Learn more about the new project: https://iris.uga.edu/understanding-flood-risks-and-strategies-for-coastal-marshes/

Dawg Day of Giving is TODAY!

Dawgs across the globe, will you answer the call? Support our work building a more resilient world by giving directly to IRIS here: https://gail.uga.edu/commit?search=90623000&desonly=1

Meet Qiong Wang, IRIS affiliate and principal investigator of a new Presidential Interdisciplinary Seed Grant project that aims to utilize AI tools for disaster resilience planning.

"My current work centers on two key questions: How can we use emerging technologies and community-driven approaches to improve climate adaptation planning? And what nature-based solutions can effectively reduce flood risk while providing evidence to support local decision-making?"

Read more in our Q&A with Qiong: https://iris.uga.edu/2026/03/24/meet-our-iris-affiliates-qiong-wang/

A whole flock of our Ducks are taking flight this semester! 🦆

We're excited to announce that these Natural Infrastructure Fellows will be defending their theses in the coming weeks:

Clare DeBerry: "A Design-Support Tool for Optimizing Marsh Terrace Performance"
March 20, 11am ET
Room: ISTEM 2, Room 2205

Noah Cleveland: “Prioritizing Climate-Adaptive Coastal Waterfowl Habitat Through the Resist-Accept-Direct Framework”
March 30, 9am ET
Room: Jackson Street Building, Room 112

Madison LePain: "Synthesizing Marsh Terracing Knowledge: Towards a Guidebook for Best Management Practices in NBS"
Defense Date: April 1st, 2pm ET
Room: ISTEM 2, Room 1251

All three will also be available via Zoom. Please email [email protected] for the link.

Eleven projects promoting cross-disciplinary research at the University of Georgia have been awarded Presidential Interdisciplinary Seed Grants, and we see several IRIS affiliates on the list!

Presidential Interdisciplinary Seed Grants are the largest internal funding program at UGA and are highly competitive- fewer than 7% of the record 161 applications in 2025 received funding, boosting projects by up to $100,000 to make real differences through collaborative teams.

2025 awardees included:

“Resilient Agricultural Landscapes Initiative," led by Brian Bledsoe, Lynn Abdouni, Todd Bridges, Luke Li, Don Nelson, Whitney Pagan, WenZhan Song

“Unlocking the Ecological ‘Black Box’ of Green Stormwater Infrastructure for More Resilient and Sustainable Cities," lead by Charles van Rees, Seth Wenger, Brock Woodson, Alysha Helmrich, Rhett Jackson

“Incentivizing Prevention: A Research Agenda for Reducing Health Risks in Global Livestock Systems" with Susana Ferreira, Erin Lipp

“AI-Driven Decision Support Platform for Smart Disaster Resilience Planning" with Qiong Wang, Jon Calabria, Charles van Rees, Mark Risse

🔗 https://news.uga.edu/newest-round-of-presidential-interdisciplinary-seed-grants-announced/