| Faculty Advisor |
Christine Wittich
|
|---|---|
| Contact Email | cwittich@unl.edu |
| Website | |
| Advisor College: |
Engineering
|
| Potential Student Tasks |
Responsibilities will include reading and learning about the impacts of natural hazards on agricultural communities, reviewing and creating geospatial datasources and aerial imagery, analyzing data alongside research team. |
| Student Qualifications |
An interest in the impacts of natural hazards on our communities. Willingness to learn and use GIS software. |
| Training, Mentoring, and Workplace Community |
Flexible work schedule and workplace. Office and desktop can be provided, if helpful, but remote work is most welcome. Will involve close mentorship of faculty mentor with secondary mentorship from graduate and other undergraduate students. |
| Available Positions |
2
|
Despite the criticality of the agricultural industry to both U.S. and global sustainable food production, the resulting lack of economic diversity in most rural areas is a major contributor to the low resilience of rural communities to natural hazards, including windstorms and earthquakes. While resilience is a function of many socioeconomic and organizational factors, the disaster response of the built environment is a critical aspect that cannot be ignored. In many rural areas, critical infrastructure includes vital agricultural support and production systems, such as steel grain bins and center pivot irrigators. However, these structures are not typically designed to consistent standards and have been observed to perform poorly in recent severe windstorms.