The University of Rhode Island has been selected by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security to be one of two primary partners, along with Jackson State University, in the Coastal Resilience Center of Excellence at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
The selection, which could result in funding in excess of $2.5 million, enables URI to provide key research designed to help build resiliency along the nation’s coastlines and prepare for increasingly severe coastal hazards.
“Disasters like Hurricane Sandy remind us how important it is to prepare for the threats facing our coastal communities ,” added Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse , a founding member and co-chair of the Senate Oceans Caucus. “ And with the changes underway in our oceans – like rising sea levels and warming waters – we’ll need the best and brightest for the job.”
Two of three funded research projects focus on the design of tools and methods to enable communities to become better prepared for sea level rise, more intense hurricanes, and other coastal hazards associated with climate change.