The Population Health Initiative has announced the award of eight Tier 2 pilot grants, which are intended to encourage the development of new interdisciplinary collaborations among investigators – and with community-based partners – for projects that address critical challenges to population health. One of the funded projects, “Assessing National Public Housing Authority Disaster Preparedness, Response and Recovery of Place-based Subsidized Housing Units,” includes Rebecca Walter, Windermere Endowed Chair and Associate Professor, Runstad Department of Real Estate. Walter serves as a…
Research Theme: Natural Hazards
Extreme weather events, tornadoes, earthquakes and other typically non-human-induced hazards
Ziyang Liu
Research Interests: Urban resilience, disaster risk reduction, climate change, community engagement.
Pranjali Rai
Integration of climate change adaptation in hazard mitigation, planning process, disaster risk reduction, community resilience, and risk assessment and communication
Chin-Wei Chen
Climate change (adaptation & mitigation), climate governance, community-based adaptation actions, disaster risk reduction
Tsunami Vertical Evacuation Project (Project SafeHaven)
Our Washington Pacific Coast is vulnerable to tsunami waves. These waves will wash over coastal communities that do not have ready access to high ground. The Institute for Hazards Mitigation Planning and Research has been working with these at-risk communities at the direction or the State Emergency Management Division to identify locations for vertical tsunami refuges. Currently, the Institute is applying an evacuation model developed by the USGS to corroborated locations suggested by residents. These suggested locations were the product of Institute research conduct over the past 8 years and which lead to the construction of structures in Tokeland and Westport, Washington.
Michael Lindell
Michael K. Lindell has conducted research on emergency preparedness and response for a wide range of natural and technological hazards over the past 40 years. He has conducted research or provided technical services to 40 different organizations in the public and private sectors. He has provided technical assistance on radiological emergency preparedness for the International Atomic Energy Agency, the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission, the Department of Energy, and nuclear utilities and also worked on hazardous materials emergency preparedness with State Emergency Response Commissions, Local Emergency Planning Committees, and chemical companies. He has served eight times as a consultant to National Research Council committees examining environmental hazards, and has been a member of three National Research Council committees—Disasters Research in Social Sciences, Assessing Vulnerabilities Related to the Nation’s Chemical Infrastructure, and Inherently Safer Chemical Processes: The Use of Methyl Isocyanate (MIC) at Bayer CropScience. In addition, he has reviewed research proposals for 20 different foreign, federal, and state agencies as well as performed manuscript reviews for over 75 different journals in the social and environmental sciences and engineering. He has written extensively on emergency management and is the author of 80 technical reports, 125 journal articles and book chapters, and nine books.
Institute for Hazards Mitigation Planning and Research
The Institute for Hazards Mitigation Planning and Research is an interdisciplinary academic institute housed in the College of Built Environments. The Institute is dedicated to exploring ways to enhance Community Resilience, through integration of hazards mitigation principles across all aspects of community development. Its mission is to build a resource center that will enhance risk reduction and resilience activities through research and analysis of hazards, policies related to mitigation, and outreach to the community.
The Institute for Hazards Mitigation Planning and Research is dedicated to integrating hazards mitigation principles into a wide range of crisis, disaster, and risk management opportunities. The Institute provides expertise in disaster preparedness, response, and recovery with a special emphasis on mitigation and planning in the promotion of community sustainability. It is interdisciplinary in focus and structure, and the capabilities of the Institute are enhanced by its close relationship with other academic and research organizations. This incorporates collaboration with several other disciplines within the University of Washington.
The Institute’s faculty and researchers are involved in numerous innovative and path-breaking research initiatives with the ultimate goal of enhancing community capacity to anticipate, respond to, cope with, and recover from natural and man-made hazard events.
Monica Huang
Monica Huang is a research engineer for the Carbon Leadership Forum at the University of Washington with expertise in environmental life cycle assessment (LCA). Recent research topics include the environmental impact of housing, optimizing tall wood structures, and developing data on the environmental impact of earthquake damage. She was also the lead author for a guide on the use of LCA in design and construction practice. Past research experience includes diverse topics such as astronomy, electronic waste, and sea level rise. As a graduate student, she developed the Port of Seattle’s first study on the impacts of sea level rise on seaport structures.
Himanshu Grover
Himanshu Grover’s research focus is at the intersection of land use planning, community resilience, and climate change. Dr. Grover, is also the co-Director of the Institute for Hazard Mitigation and Planning at the College of Built Environments. Dr. Grover received his PhD in Urban and Regional Sciences from Texas A&M University. In his research, Dr. Grover examines inter-linkages between physical development, socio-economic concerns, and the natural environment. His research is primarily focused on planning for development of safe, equitable, and sustainable communities. Dr. Grover is broadly interested in climate change management (both mitigation and adaptation strategies), environmental and land use planning, social equity, urban infrastructure management, hazard mitigation, and community resilience. His research emphasizes place-based planning policies to balance economic, environmental and social priorities to achieve equitable development and enhance community resilience.
Dr. Grover has been a practicing planner for more than a decade and is a certified planner in India (ITPI), and in United States (AICP). He has received research funding from a number of agencies including National Science Foundation (NSF), Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). Dr. Grover is also a fellow of the prestigious NSF funded Enabling the Next Generation of Hazards & Disasters Researchers Fellowship Program (Round 4). Dr. Grover teaches courses in Research Methods, Comprehensive Planning, Land use and Infrastructure Management, Introduction to Emergency Management, and Introduction to Urban Planning. His recent research projects focus on pro-environmental decision-making, and adaptive planning for urban resilience. Dr. Grover also interested in issues related to social vulnerability, and environmental justice. More details about his ongoing research are available on his homepage.
Sofia Dermisi
Sofia Dermisi holds a joint appointment between the Department of Real Estate and the Department of Urban Design and Planning. She is the Victor L. Lyon and Alvin J. Wolff Endowed Professor in Real Estate. She is also the Chair of the Interdisciplinary Group for Real Estate (IGRE), which focuses in cross-discipline collaboration in teaching and research. In her joint appointment role she focuses on maintaining a formal two-way connection between the two departments on courses, student interests and research. This role is especially important among the MUP students who pursue the Real Estate specialization or have interests in real estate courses, for which she serves as their advisor.
Dermisi has an interdisciplinary approach in her teaching and research as real estate is one of those fields someone can have significant flexibility in focusing on different uses (e.g. office, residential, retail etc.), scales (local, national, international etc.) and aspects (e.g. market analysis, development, investment etc.). Real estate is also typically linked with other fields such as social and economic, construction among many others, which help us understand and possibly predict in the short and long-run expansion and contraction patterns of the real estate markets. Her area of research has always focused on understanding the evolution of office markets and the effect of internal and external shocks in downtown areas. Office markets have evolved significantly through time and understanding how real estate markets react to deferent economic conditions helps predict future market shifts in a highly cyclical industry. The adoption of sustainable practices by office buildings is another aspect of her research especially in regards to existing buildings, when the capital investment tends to be more significant than a new construction. The last but not least aspect of her research focuses on the effect of disasters on office and hotel markets.
Dermisi has received various grants for her research and received multiple awards highlighting her contribution to the field. She also serves as the elected Program Chair of the American Real Estate Society conference in 2018 and the Vice President of the Society. She will be the President of the American Real Estate Society in 2019-2020, and only the second woman to be elevated by members in such a position, but the first non-US born.
Dermisi, holds a Diploma in Planning and Regional Development Engineering from the University of Thessaly-Greece (1998) and a Master and Doctorate in Design Studies (1999 and 2002 respectively) from Harvard University.