Civil, Environmental, and Construction Engineering
Distinguished Lecture
Monday, April 8, 2019
CECE Room 209, 4:00-5:00 p.m.
Hanadi S. Rifai Ph.D
Professor in Civil and Environmental Engineering at the University of Houston (UH)
Director of the Environmental Graduate Program at UH
Associate Dean for Research and Facilities in the Cullen College of Engineering at UH
Topics: Harvey Impacts on Environmental Infrastructure and Communities
Abstract: Hanadi S. Rifai, Amin Kiaghadi, Adithya Govindarajan, and Rose S. Sobel
Often, efforts in the aftermath of severe storms and hurricanes is placed on damages and ensuing impacts associated with residential and transportation infrastructure. Less emphasis is placed on environmental infrastructure and services such as water and wastewater treatment, solid waste, industrial activities that involve storage, transportation, and production of chemicals; and hazardous waste and Superfund sites. The presentation will focus on failures and damages associated with such systems after Harvey and will highlight lessons learned from prior events including Hurricane Ike. The presentation will cover the vulnerabilities associated with environmental and industrial infrastructure and the challenges in achieving resiliency in this domain. Data from an extensive sampling program in Houston watersheds after Harvey, collected with funding from a National Science Foundation Rapid Award, demonstrate the water and sediment quality impacts of extreme events and the capacity for recovery in watersheds with differing characteristics such as development and flood control infrastructure. The sampled data after Harvey demonstrate the relatively rapid recovery, with almost little or no impact on water and sediment quality for watersheds with no anthropogenic activities.
Bio: Dr. Hanadi Rifai is John and Rebecca Moore’s Professor in Civil and Environmental Engineering at the University of Houston (UH). She serves as Director of the Environmental Graduate Program at UH and is Associate Dean for Research and Facilities in the Cullen College of Engineering at UH. Her research is focused on modeling fate and transport of pollutants in the environment, water and sediment quality, and groundwater contamination and remediation. Dr. Rifai has studied every major watershed in the greater Houston metro area with specific emphasis on pathogens and industrial pollutants particularly in the Houston Ship Channel and Galveston Bay. She currently directs the Hurricane Resiliency Research Institute (HuRRI), a gulf-coast multi-university research institute focused on increasing understanding of different dimensions of resiliency that include assessment, prediction, protection, mitigation, education, and recovery from extreme events.
Reception to follow: Hors d’oeuvres