Tag: natural infrastructure
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April 2024 Knowledge Series: CarbonWATCH – Assessing Your Carbon Inventory at the Landscape Level Using Geospatial Technology
Grant Wiseman, Brendan Player & Dr. Martha Farella, Stantec As climate change becomes an increasing threat, and organizations across the globe are setting ambitious net zero and environmental, social, and governance (ESG) goals, assessing, inventorying, and monitoring carbon stock in plants and soils has become vitally important to a variety of businesses and sectors. Stantec’s CarbonWATCH tool measures the…
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Partners featured in Washington Post article on the importance of dunes for climate solutions
Our partners at the University of Florida were quoted in a new article from The Washington Post titled “Dunes aren’t just big piles of sand. Here’s why Earth needs them.” Dunes are sandy landforms that line shores, supporting vegetation and wildlife and providing protection from storm surge. They form when sand is windblown up a…
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March 2024 Knowledge Series: Advancing Dredging and Innovative Beneficial Use Practices for More Resilient Systems
Monica Chasten, EWN Proving Ground Lead, USACE Philadelphia District & Lenore P. Tedesco, Executive Director, The Wetlands Institute The US Army Corps of Engineers (USACE), Philadelphia District has been participating in the national Regional Sediment Management (RSM) and Engineering With Nature (EWN) Programs with considerable lessons learned developed for navigation dredging and placement activities in New Jersey,…
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New Publication: Life Cycle Analysis of Natural Infrastructure Projects
A team of researchers from USACE and the University of Georgia’s Institute for Resilient Infrastructure Systems (IRIS), collaborating through the Network for Engineering With Nature (N-EWN), have proposed a new framework for the life cycle analysis of infrastructure projects that includes a more detailed view of project benefits and environmental impacts.
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Gulf Coast hurricane resilience: UF natural infrastructure research featured by NPR
Researchers from the University of Florida were featured in an article from NPR on Thursday, Feb. 15 titled Hurricane Idalia shows nature may provide the best shoreline protection. The article describes how the team encouraged the growth of oyster beds by building artificial reefs offshore with the goal of slowing storm surge and flooding. “We…
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February 2024 Knowledge Series: Tools for Life Cycle Cost Analysis and Application in Stream Restoration
Liya Abera, PhD, Engineer Research and Development Center, USACE Engineering projects typically require economic analysis of the costs and benefits of alternative actions. However, costs may not be distributed evenly over a project’s life cycle and may include initial capital investments, short-term adaptive management actions, long-term operations and maintenance, and eventually disposal. Engineering economics methods exist…
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Partners featured in Washington Post: Natural infrastructure for rising seas
At Eagles Island in Wilmington, North Carolina, floats the historic Battleship North Carolina: a World War II museum right on the water. But as climate change causes sea levels to rise, this popular visitors’ spot could be at risk due to increasingly high tidal flooding. While multiple design and engineering firms suggested building walls around…
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January 2024 Knowledge Series: Real-Time, Cloud-Based Hydraulic Modeling with HEC RAS Using the Dam Screening Tool (DST)
Garrett Menichino, PhD, PE, CFM, Research Civil Engineer, Environmental Laboratory, Engineer Research and Development Center, USACE Natural and Nature-Based Features (NNBF) are increasingly recognized as flood risk management solutions that can provide environmental, social, and economic benefits. However, there are few planning-level tools available for screening NNBF for flood risk management projects. The Dam Screening Tool (DST) is…
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November 2023 Knowledge Series: Engineering With Nature within the Comprehensive Everglades Restoration Plan
Gina Ralph, Science Integration Branch, Jacksonville, FL District, USACE The Everglades ecosystem has been altered from over 140 years of highly effective efforts to drain water from the land. As a result, the remaining Everglades ecosystem no longer exhibits the structure, function, or diversity that historically defined the pre-drainage system. The Comprehensive Everglades Restoration Plan (CERP),…
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September 2023 Knowledge Series: Enhancing Benefits Evaluation for Water Resources Projects: Towards a More Comprehensive Approach for Nature-Based Solutions
Jordan Fischbach, The Water Institute The economic benefits associated with water resources projects has been the focus of federal investment decisions for decades. However, the science of quantifying and evaluating the diverse environmental, social, and economic benefits and costs of water resources projects, particularly those including Nature Based Solutions (NBS), has advanced in recent years.…