Hurricane impacts on buildings & infrastructure

Brian PhillipsBrian Phillips

Brian Phillips is a structural engineer who investigates the impacts of hurricanes and other severe coastal weather events on civil infrastructure through both field studies and laboratory research.
Email: brian.phillips@essie.ufl.edu

David PrevattDavid O. Prevatt

David O. Prevatt is a structural engineer who studies how residential structures perform in high wind events. His work advances the knowledge for societies to enhance community-resilience and design more sustainable structures.
Email: dprev@ufl.edu

Arthriya SubgranonArthriya Subgranon

Uses AI and HiperGator, UF’s supercomputer, in her work to improve forecast modeling of infrastructure damage due to hurricanes.
Email: Arthriya@ufl.edu

Water quality and storm surge

Sungyoon JungSungyoon Jung
Sungyoon Jung is an environmental engineer who studies how hurricanes affect the spread of microplastic pollution in coastal and marine environments.

Email: sungyoon.jung@ufl.edu

Mary LuskMary Lusk
Mary Lusk can speak about the impact of flooding on well water and septic systems. In the event of flooding, she can tell residents whether and when it’s safe to use their water after a storm strikes.

Email: mary.lusk@ufl.edu

Chamteut OhChamteut Oh

Chamteut Oh studies the effects of hurricane-driven storm surges on coastal water quality. Additionally, he is developing an automated surveillance system for monitoring microbial water quality in real-time to enhance public health and environmental safety.
Email: chamteutoh@ufl.edu

Coastal impact

Andrew AltieriAndrew Altieri

As interim director of the UF Center for Coastal Solutions, Dr. Altieri’s work focuses on finding ways to strengthen coastal areas before storms hit — using nature-based solutions like dunes, wetlands and vegetation — and helping communities recover more effectively after storms.

Email: andrew.altieri@essie.ufl.edu

Maitane OlabarrietaMaitane Olabarrieta

Maitane Olabarrieta’s work focuses on the processes that drive coastal erosion and flooding under extreme storms and improving numerical models used to predict coastal change.

Email: Maitane.olabarrieta@essie.ufl.edu

Katy SerafinKaty Serafin

Katy Serafin researches extreme sea levels, compound events, and coastal flooding and erosion hazards to better understand how our coastlines change and the resulting impacts to people and places.
Email: kserafin@ufl.edu

Nina StarkNina Stark

Dr. Stark leads a UF research group focused on coastal and marine geotechnics with emphasis on naval applications as well as infrastructure development, maintenance and resilience. This includes studies into how storms and floods affect communities and the built environment and ways to reduce their impact. Her fieldwork includes major events like Hurricanes Harvey, Irma, and Helene, as well as floods in Europe and Yellowstone.
Email: Nina.stark@essie.ufl.edu

Climatology and meteorology

Corene MatyasCorene Matyas

Corene Matyas is a geology professor who teaches courses on hurricanes, atmospheric teleconnections, climatology and data analysis using GIS. Their research areas of specialization include tropical climatology, hurricanes, severe weather and remote sensing of rainfall.
Email: matyas@ufl.edu

David KeellingsDavid Keellings

A physical geographer who explores climate extremes with an emphasis on linkages between events like heat waves and hurricanes, their physical mechanisms, and on quantifying the contribution of climate change versus modes of natural variability.
Email: djkeellings@ufl.edu

Stephen MullensStephen Mullens

Mr. Mullens is an instructional professor of meteorology with expertise in forecasting, weather instrumentation, weather event analysis, forecast creation, and forecast communication.
Email: stephen.mullens@ufl.edu

General hurricane preparation, mitigation and recovery

Jeff CarneyJeff Carney

As an associate professor in the School of Architecture, Dr. Carney specializes in post-disaster recovery and resilient housing. He leads initiatives to support hurricane-impacted communities across Florida, including modular housing design and recovery efforts in hurricane-impacted communities like Cedar Key and Port St. Joe.
Email: j.carney@ufl.edu

Carrie StevensonCarrie Stevenson

Carrie Stevenson, an editor of Florida Homeowner’s Handbook to Prepare for Natural Disasters, educates citizens on hurricane preparation, with a focus on hurricane-resilient tree selection, flooding, sea level rise, historical impacts from storms, the science of hurricanes and wind mitigation.
Email: ctsteven@ufl.edu

Jeffrey LindseyJeffrey Lindsey

Jeffrey Lindsey is a retired fire chief with more than 45 years of experience with hurricanes, wildland fires and common emergencies. He has expertise in emergency services administration, management of personnel and major scenes, education and emergency and disaster response.
Email: Jeffrey.lindsey@ufl.edu

Xilei ZhaoXilei Zhao

Xilei Zhao is a civil and coastal engineer who studies citizens’ decision-making during evacuation orders under the threat of hurricane. With funding from the NSF, she looked at how people dealt with conflicting objectives during Hurricane Ian.
Email: xilei.zhao@essie.ufl.edu

Artificial intelligence & hurricane forecasting, preparedness and response

Zhe JiangZhe Jiang

An assistant professor in Computer & Information Science & Engineering, Dr. Jiang is an expert in AI technologies for hurricane-related disasters, such as developing AI tools to speed up tropical cyclone and storm surge forecasting and flood inundation mapping.
Email: zhe.jiang@ufl.edu

Antar JutlaAntar Jutla

Dr. Jutla develops advanced mapping and warning systems to monitor microbial pathogenic threats in coastal waters. His team’s Vibrio Warning System uses AI, satellite data, and predictive modeling to help mitigate public health risks from bacteria that can surge after hurricanes and flooding events.
Email: ajutla@ufl.edu

Community resilience and recovery 

Jason von MedingJason von Meding

Jason von Meding, an associate professor in the Rinker School of Construction Management and member of the Florida Institute for Built Environment Resiliency (FIBER), is an expert in how disaster affects people.
Email: jason.vonmeding@ufl.edu

Angie LindseyAngie Lindsey

Angie Lindsey’s area of focus is on community resource organizations and collaborative efforts during the recovery period following a disaster.

Email: ablindsey@ufl.edu

Maria WatsonMaria Watson

Maria Watson is an urban planner with expertise in disaster recovery. She investigates factors that impact a community’s response and how business and housing recovery are linked.
Email: maria.watson@ufl.edu

Agriculture/Crop damage

Jonathan CraneJonathan Crane

A tropic-fruit crop expert, Johathan Crave studies how hurricanes affect Florida agriculture and damage fruit crops and grove infrastructure.
Email: jhcr@ufl.edu

Economic and community impact

Christa CourtChrista Court

Christa Court, director of the UF/IFAS Economic Impact Analysis Program, conducts economic modeling on disaster impacts on agriculture, forestry and fisheries in Florida.

Email: ccourt@ufl.edu

Asoo VakhariaAsoo Vakharia
Asoo Vakharia researches sustainability, management supply chain disruptions and legislative policies to regulate environmental impact.
Email: asoo.vakharia@warrington.ufl.edu

Ted KuryTed Kury

Ted Kury, the director of Energy Studies for the Public Utility Research Center, can comment on economics and energy risk management and energy and the environment.
Email: ted.kury@warrington.ufl.edu

Daniel A. SmithDaniel A. Smith

Dr. Smith’s research on voting and elections includes studies on the effects of hurricanes on voter turnout in Florida, including how election officials can mitigate lower voter participation by utilizing different types of voting, including early-in-person locations and vote centers.
Email: dasmith@ufl.edu

Food safety

Keith SchneiderKeith Schneider
Keith Schneider’s research focuses on food safety and understanding foodborne illnesses. He has expertise in strategies to prevent the consumption of spoiled food that can cause illness after power loss due to a storm.
Email: keiths29@ufl.edu

Livestock

Todd ThriftTodd Thrift
Todd Thrift is a beef cattle specialist with expertise in cow-calf management and feedlot management. His work focuses on applied cow-calf management in Florida, and he can comment on preparing livestock for disasters, ranch recovery and management.

Email: tathrift@ufl.edu

Mosquitos

Eva BucknerEva Buckner
Eva Buckner, a medical entomology extension specialist researches mosquitoes and mosquito-control efforts. After hurricanes, she works directly with affected communities and mosquito-control programs to get information and resources to those in need.

Email: eva.buckner@ufl.edu

Stormwater drainage

Don RaineyDon Rainey
If a hurricane hits, the heavy rain may bring more nutrients downstream. Don Rainey, a water resources agent for UF/IFAS, focuses on stormwater, drainage and nutrients that flow downstream from homes to stormwater ponds.

Email: drainey@ufl.edu

Trees

Ryan KleinRyan Klein
Ryan Klein studies how trees in urban areas are affected by hurricanes and the risks these damaged trees pose to property and residents. He can address questions about the many variables that can cause trees to fall during hurricanes and other intense storms.

Email:  ryanwklein@ufl.edu

Wildlife and marine animals

Shirley BakerShirley Baker
Shirley Baker, a professor of molluscan biology and aquaculture with UF/IFAS, has expertise in marine animals. She can provide insight on how major storms and disasters impact populations and natural animal behaviors.

Email: Sbaker25@ufl.edu