Resilient Futures Podcast

• Behind the City Scenes: Why You Should Get to Know Your Local Infrastructure

  Have you ever asked your garbage truck where it's going?Sybil Derrible is a professor of civil engineering at the University of Illinois Chicago, focusing on urban engineering- studying large systems of power and movement inspired by the tiny island he calls his hometown. Living in a tight community (and with parents that owned a hardware store), Sybil grew up knowing where his water and energy came from- and now, he wants you to learn about yours too.In this episode, Sybil joins us to discuss his new book, aptly titled The Infrastructure Book. He chose to write this book because he felt that his work needed to be communicated to the public. He feels that people need to understand how their infrastructure works: not just roads and bridges, but the energy systems, water distribution, telecommunications, waste disposal and more that happen behind the scenes.Sybil's Haiku:It breathes not, but livesIt makes it all possibleInfrastructure rocks!Links: Check out The Infrastructure Book here: https://csun.uic.edu/the-infrastructure-book/ Learn more about Sybil's work: https://sybilderrible.com/ 

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• A More Resilient Georgia: Introducing the Statewide Resilience Assessment!

  This month, we’re proud to introduce an in-house effort at the Institute for Resilient Infrastructure Systems: the Georgia Statewide Resilience Assessment.Commissioned by The Pew Charitable Trusts and conducted by the Institute for Resilient Infrastructure Systems at UGA, this report brings together insight from across the sectors, stakeholders and systems of Georgia. The outcome: a review of our hazards and challenges, as well as some opportunities, exemplary projects, and recommendations for creating a more resilient Georgia.The research process for this report involved holding in-person and virtual discussions across the state to gain a wide array of perspectives. In this episode, we bring you a few of the people who were present at some of those meetings to discuss the project and state resilience planning as a whole.Featuring: Kristiane Huber, Officer, US Conservation, The Pew Charitable TrustsLynn Abdouni, Associate Research Scientist, Institute for Resilient Infrastructure SystemsSummer Modelfino, Deputy Chief Resilience Officer, Maryland Office of ResilienceAlan Robertson, AWR Strategic Consulting, Tybee Island, GeorgiaAnd yes, Alan brought a haiku!Recover, adaptAlways planning for a more Resilient futureLinks:Read the report here: https://iris.uga.edu/resilience-planning-for-the-state-of-georgia/Watch the webinar on state resilience planning here: https://iris.uga.edu/resilience-planning-for-the-state-of-georgia/ Learn more about the Maryland Office of Resilience: https://resilientmaryland.com/ Learn more about resilience efforts in Tybee Island: https://resilienttybee.com/ 

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• American Disasters: How Classical Calamities Inform Emergency Response Today

  Cynthia Kierner, historian, self-declared "non-21st century person," and Mets fan, is deeply interested in the role of disturbances across American history- hurricanes, earthquakes, and disease, oh my. In her book, Inventing Disaster: The Culture of Calamity from the Jamestown Colony to the Johnstown Flood, she reviews the history of natural disasters and how we respond to them across time and space in the United States.Hosts Alysha and Todd join their guest in asking colossal questions on cataclysms: How do governments simultaneously prepare for risks at local, regional and national levels? What role do community outsiders play in disaster prevention and recovery? Can the government make you wear a seatbelt?From Philadelphia's yellow fever epidemic of 1793 to the worldwide shutdown of COVID-19, disturbances shape communities in a major way. In this episode, we review the life cycle of natural disasters and how they impact communities today... and tomorrow.Cynthia's Haiku (An Ode to Jersey City):Superstorm SandyRollercoaster in the seaInspiring disasterLinks:Inventing Disaster: The Culture of Calamity from the Jamestown Colony to the Johnstown Flood: https://uncpress.org/book/9781469652528/inventing-disaster/ Rethinking American Disasters (NEW): https://lsupress.org/9780807179932/rethinking-american-disasters/ Bio: https://historyarthistory.gmu.edu/people/ckierner

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• Why Do We Need Parks? Welcoming Back Joeri Morpurgo

  We know that green spaces are good for you. They provide benefits to air quality, biodiversity, and even your mental health... but why?Returning guest Joeri Morpurgo, a postdoctoral fellow at Universiteit Leiden in the Netherlands, set out with his team to answer this question. They found an important distinction: not all green spaces are created equal.The team also investigated the various benefits of green space, and found natural variables to attribute them to: lower air temperatures were directly related to tree heights, soil quality promotes water storage, and so on. Every green space has unique characteristics that give it unique, nuanced benefits. In this episode, Joeri joins hosts Alysha and Todd to talk about why distinction between outdoor spaces is so important.Joeri's Haiku: Lush green fill the streetsYet life and function divergeFeatures shape what they giveLinks:Joeri's Bio: https://www.universiteitleiden.nl/en/staffmembers/joeri-morpurgo#tab-1 Joeri's Publications: https://scholar.google.nl/citations?user=PHxx0pIAAAAJ&hl=nl Pre-print of Joeri's newest pub: https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-5841194/v1

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• The Nation's Heartbeat: Engineering, History, and the Mississippi River

  The Mississippi River Basin covers over a million square miles across the southeast and midwest US. Despite growing up far away in the northeast US, Boyce Upholt thinks about the nation's largest waterway more than most: he's the author of "The Great River: The Making and Unmaking of the Mississippi." The book began nearly eight years earlier with a paddling trip, a sunken steamboat, and love-at-first-sight for the iconic southern river.Upholt speaks to our hosts Alysha and Todd about his intertwining passions for history and nature, and why this work centers on "the Great River." The book covers how humans have thought about, related to, and altered the region over centuries, and how the river changes to meet us in new ways."We know it's out there, this sort of heart beating in the middle of America, but most Americans don't know what it looks like."Boyce's Haiku (The Edgelands Wander Haiku):Shopping cart half-sunkInto the crust-dried batture mudNothing lasts too longLinks:Check out the book: https://www.boyceupholt.com/Southlands Magazine, a new project by Boyce Upholt, is launching later this year: https://www.boyceupholt.com/southlands

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