Hurricane impacts on buildings & infrastructure
Brian PhillipsBrian 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 O. PrevattDavid 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 SubgranonUses 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 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 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 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 AltieriAs 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 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 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 StarkDr. 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 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 KeellingsA 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 MullensMr. 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 CarneyAs 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, 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 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 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 JiangAn 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 JutlaDr. 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, 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’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 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 CraneA 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, 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 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, 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. SmithDr. 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 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 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 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 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 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 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