Hannah Teicher, Assistant Professor of Urban Planning, will be part of a research team receiving a $5.6 million grant through the Multidisciplinary University Research Initiative (MURI) program, funded by the United States Department of Defense (DoD). Teicher will act as co-principal investigator for Sea-Level Rise in the Indo-Pacific Region: Building a Framework for Interdependent Resilience, a five-year project that will develop adaptation pathways for military island communities vulnerable to sea-level rise.
In case studies in Hawaii and Guam, the team will develop a decision-making framework that integrates social and organizational factors with awareness of sea-level rise risks to utilities, transportation, and infrastructure. Considering a long history of military engagement in these urban communities, the team will investigate previous joint decision-making efforts, barriers and enablers to adaptation planning, and how the disproportionate impacts on vulnerable communities can be addressed in this context. The project will have implications for the broader region and small island nations facing dramatic sea-level rise impacts.
Teicher will join Christine Kirchhoff, Associate Professor in the School of Engineering Design and Innovation at Penn State University; Peter Ruggiero, Associate Professor in the College of Earth, Ocean, and Atmospheric Sciences at Oregon State University; and Mark Merrifield, Principal Investigator, Director of the Center for Climate Change Impacts and Adaptation at the University of California San Diego.
In March, the DoD announced $220 million in awards for basic research projects as part of the MURI program. At an average award amount of $7.1 million over five years, these competitive grants will support 31 teams located at 61 U.S. academic institutions.