Resilient Futures Podcast

This podcast comes to you from the University of Georgia, a campus that has stretched across the hills of Athens, Georgia since 1785. UGA is situated between the Upper and Middle Oconee Rivers, with tributary creeks flowing all across campus- even right under our football stadium!

This month, hosts Alysha and Todd are joined by fellow UGA colleague Zak Ruehmann, Director of Engineering Services here at the Institute for Resilient Infrastructure Systems. Zak's team recently wrapped up an exciting cross-campus collaboration: a flood risk assessment across UGA's campus that shows the places and buildings most at risk.

Keeping the Dawg Walk from becoming... a Doggie Paddle?

Zak's Haiku:
Preparation first
Absorb the punch gracefully
Ready to adapt
Links: 
Learn more about the Institute for Resilient Infrastructure's work: https://iris.uga.edu/

Patrick Keyser knows the grass may not always be greener--but there's still a lot to learn from it.

Since long before European colonization, grasslands have a rich history as one of North America's most diverse, resilient, and iconic landscapes. These  ecosystems are the epicenters of agriculture in the US, but native grass species are disappearing as introduced plants take over and land uses change. As a University of Tennessee professor and Director of the Center for Native Grasslands Management, Patrick spreads the gospel of grass.

This month, Patrick joins hosts Alysha and Todd to discuss the history of grasslands, explain the threats they're facing, and dispel some myths about whether you should add native grasses to your yard.

Links:
Patrick's book, Native Grass Forages for the Eastern US (get tips about implementing native grasses in your lawn!): https://nativegrasses.tennessee.edu/native-grass-forages/
Patrick's bio: https://utia.tennessee.edu/person/?id=6343
University of Tennessee Center for Native Grasslands Management: https://nativegrasses.tennessee.edu/

This month, Alysha Helmrich is our host and guest! This short episode discusses social-ecological-technological systems and sensemaking. She explores urban systems as SETS, positions SETS thinking for sensemaking, and identifies four modes of SETS to build requisite variety. To learn more, follow the links below!

Links:
Foundational reading on SETS: https://agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1029/2018EF000926
Main perspective discussed regarding SETS and sensemaking: https://www.nature.com/articles/s42949-023-00120-1
SETS in Phoenix, AZ: https://link.springer.com/article/10.1186/s43065-023-00085-6

Alysha's Haiku:
City not alone
Small decisions ripple wide
For the next design

In the face of immense global and national change, the world’s oldest engineering society is staying flexible.

The American Society for Civil Engineers President, Marsha Bomar, joins our host Alysha Helmrich to speak to the power of diverse perspectives in building the future’s infrastructure and the need for interdisciplinary teams in solving great challenges.

Alysha and Marsha also discuss the workforce shortage in the field of engineering, and how bright minds from all walks of life should consider stepping up to fill the gap. Finally, they cover the history of the ASCE Infrastructure Report Card, a data-driven report that the society delivers to each state on an annual basis, grading the state’s infrastructure on its current condition, future needs, operation and maintenance, public safety and resilience and innovation.

Tune in to learn more about ASCE’s bright, resilient future and ways to get involved!

Marsha's Haiku:
Trains race on steel tracks
Tires trace the open road
Water flows for life

Learn more about ASCE: https://www.asce.org/
Check out all the ways you can be a part of ASCE: https://www.asce.org/membership
Check out Cities of the Future in IMAX: https://www.asce.org/publications-and-news/civil-engineering-source/article/2024/02/16/a-cities-of-the-future-primer-everything-you-need-to-know-about-asces-new-movie
ASCE 2027: https://experience.asce.org/?gad_source=1&gad_campaignid=23353598541&gbraid=0AAAAADhKo5K2trfb3rawiirtIdOXU3Pe4&gclid=EAIaIQobChMI8p_v-oC0kgMV3DYIBR1xkTSnEAAYASAAEgJKpvD_BwE

Disasters are affecting more people and property than ever before. Since 1980, the U.S. has experienced 400+ weather-related "billion dollar" disasters, $3 trillion in economic impacts, and thousands of lives and livelihoods. In the effort to build our disaster resilience as a society, what's the role of insurance?

In this episode, our hosts are joined by Carolyn Kousky, Insurance for Good, and Marc Ragin, University of Georgia Terry College of Business. This month's guests discuss a question at the heart of disaster insurance: what's the best way to incentivize risk reduction for both insurance companies and customers?

If you're curious about how disaster insurance works, options for making insurance better suited for new risks, or why premiums are getting so darn high, this is the episode for you.
Marc's Haiku:
High insurance rates
We need collective action
Take your vitamins

Carolyn's Haiku, written by Matsuo Bashō (translated from Japanese):
As they begin to rise again
Chrysanthemums faintly smell
after the flooding rain

Learn more about UGA and Duke's CIRCAD partnership: https://circad.org/

Carolyn's book: https://islandpress.org/books/understanding-disaster-insurance#desc
Carolyn's nonprofit, Insurance for Good: https://www.insuranceforgood.org/