Educational Outcomes and Opportunities
Science Zoom with High School and Middle Students
Researchers are collaborating with teachers in the Tribe to Virtually Zoom with 7th and 8th graders in their science courses. We cover tectonic plate movement and earthquake and tsunami effects, natural selection and evolutionary history, planning for climate change, and historical hurricanes along the coast.
Funded Graduate Students
Abdullah Braik, Civil Engineering at Texas A&M University
Education
B.Sc. in Civil Engineering, – The University of Jordan (2015)
M.Sc. in Civil Engineering – Case Western Reserve University (2019)
M.Sc. in Data Analytics – Georgia Institute of Technology (2021)
Ph.D. in Civil Engineering – Texas A&M University (in progress)
Research Background and Interests
Abdullah is currently a Ph.D. student at Texas A&M working as a graduate research assistant with Dr. Maria Koliou, and his work focuses on building a framework for digital twins of communities subjected to natural hazards for decision making. His research interest is interdisciplinary merging civil and structural engineering with data science and statistical and computational analysis. Moreover, he has previously worked for +5 years as a structural engineer and has strong experience in the analysis and design of various types of structures against different natural hazards.
Hiramani Raj Chimauriya, Civil Engineering at Texas A&M University
Education
Ph.D., Civil Engineering, Texas A&M University, 2020 – Present
M.S., Civil Engineering, University of Texas at Arlington, 2017 – 2019
B.E., Civil Engineering, Kathmandu University, 2011 – 2015
Research Background and Interests
I am working towards my PhD in Geotechnical Engineering at Texas A&M University. I am currently a graduate research assistant with Dr. Anand Puppala. My research work focuses on numerical modeling of built geotechnical infrastructure in the face of coastal hazards and to assess their vulnerabilities to the varied loading scenarios. I am also interested in application of probabilistic methods in stability assessment of structures and maximizing the use of available data to aid design and decision making in new projects. My previous research experience includes full scale lab tests of buried culverts and numerical modeling of the same.
Elizabeth (Liz) Haire, Anthropology at Florida State University
Education
B.A., Anthropology – Flagler College
M.A., (in progress) Anthropology – Florida State University
Research Background and Interests
Liz was born and raised in Saint Augustine, Florida. She received her bachelor’s degree in anthropology with a concentration in archaeology from Flagler College. She moved to Tallahassee to further pursue education at Florida State University and is working towards obtaining a master’s degree in anthropology, focusing on southeastern United States archaeology. After graduating from Flagler, she completed a field school in Saint Augustine at Fort Mose. She also volunteered with the Saint Augustine City Archaeologists for a little over a year to expand her archaeological knowledge and to gain further field training. She will be working with Dr. Jayur Mehta from Florida State University on further exploring Chitimacha landscapes in Louisiana.
Jorge Antoino Losoya, Urban and Regional Sciences at Texas A&M University
Education
B.A. Geography, Urban Studies – The University of Texas at Austin, 2018
M.A. Latin American Studies – The University of Texas at Austin, 2021
M.S. Community and Regional Planning – The University of Texas at Austin, 2021
Ph.D. (in – progress) Urban and Regional Sciences – Texas A&M University
Research Background and Interests
Jorge is a Ph.D. student at Texas A&M working as a graduate research assistant in the Hazard Reduction and Recovery Center with Dr. Siyu Yu. He is interested in issues of justice, community vulnerability and resiliency in hazard mitigation planning and disaster studies. In particular, he is interested in community engagement methodologies in research and practice to inform social vulnerability, risk, and placed – based solutions. He is particularly drawn to non – traditional, creative, and arts – based methods. His background is in environmental justice, critical theory, and participatory methods.
Chenqiang Liu, Civil Engineering at Oregon State University
Education
B.Sc. in Civil Engineering, – Hebei University of Technology (2015)
M.Sc. in Transportation Engineering – Beijing University of Technology (2018)
Ph.D. in Civil Engineering – Oregon State University (in progress)
Research Background and Interests
Chenqiang is a PhD student in civil engineering at Oregon State University (OSU) working with Dr. Haizhong Wang. He primarily studies Transportation engineering, and focuses on tsunami evacuation simulation, railway resilience, and impact of climate change on the road network. Prior to attending OSU, Chenqiang acquired MS at Beijing University of Technology, and had three years working experience on ITS and traffic safety in China.
Andrew X. Ma, Civil Engineering at Texas A&M University
Education
B.A. Harbor, Waterway and Coastal Engineering – Tianjin University, 2016
M.A. Hydraulic Engineering – Tianjin University, 2020
Ph.D. Civil Engineering – Texas A&M University (in progress)
Research Background and Interests
Andrew has multidisciplinary research backgrounds in Programmable Logic Controller, Computational Hydrodynamics and Computational Thermodynamics. From July 2020 to Aug 2021, he served as a faculty member in the School of Architecture in Anhui Science and Technology University in China. During this time, he taught Fluid Mechanics, Architectural Engineering Drawing, Masonry Structure Design and Construction Engineering Budget. Currently, he is a graduate candidate at Texas A&M University, working with Dr. James Kaihatu. His work focuses on prediction of coastal hydrodynamic forces on structures and coastal infrastructure.
Mumtasirun Nahar, Civil Engineering at Texas A&M University
Education
M.Sc. in Civil Engineering – Military Institute of Science and Technology (MIST), Bangladesh
B.Sc. in Civil Engineering – (MIST), Bangladesh
Ph.D. in Civil Engineering – Texas A&M University, College Station (in progress)
Research Background and Interests
I am currently a Ph.D. student at Texas A&M, working as a graduate research assistant with Dr. Petros Sideris. I will work with research project enhancing resilience of underrepresented coastal communities, strengthening of structures, vulnerability assessment of structure against coastal hazards, selection of proper retrofitting technique. During environmental hazards, safety of infrastructure is important as it indicates whether or not it will become disaster and all civil engineering infrastructures play a major role to the overall development of the country’s economy, So I consider performance of structure under hazard as a priority-based issue. Sufficient and well-built infrastructure, can limit the impacts that natural hazards can cause both in terms of loss of life and economic damage. For that reason, I always inspired to work with Structural design for extreme events, multi-hazard performance assessment of structure as well as risk and vulnerability assessment of structure.
Patrick Wojtala, Anthropology at Florida State University
Education
B.A., Political Science, Anthropology – University of Michigan, 2019
M.A., (in-progress) Anthropology – Florida State University
Research Background and Interests
Patrick is interested in the ways people shape and are shaped by their environment. This has led him to study climate issues, past and present. He grew up on the Gulf Coast and care deeply about this special place and the life it supports. Through his service in the U.S. Navy, he was fortunate enough to experience a wide range of cultures and environments across the globe. He has previously worked on collections curation for a Mississippian mound site, ethnobotanical research, recording rock art in South Dakota, documenting historic properties, underwater archaeological excavation, and conducting field surveys for the U.S. Forest Service. Currently, he is a graduate student at Florida State University, working with Dr. Jayur Mehta on issues of climate change and biodiversity.