Division of Flooding and Poverty
Climate change and increased flood hazards will drive increased poverty in the 21st Century. Through the study of displaced populations, disrupted economies, water-borne illnesses and the loss of ecosystem services and infrastructure caused by flooding, UC Blum Center Scholars are utilizing big-data to identify solutions to mitigate flood risk, foster peace and stability in flood-affected communities and empower citizens to action through widely-accessible information and leadership.
Projects & Team
Latest News & Research
In the News: Sanders Explains Landscape’s Role in Libya Floods
The recent deadly storm and flooding in Derna, Libya demonstrates how infrastructure, landscapes, and climate plays a role in determining how disastrous a storm could be. In a recent New York Times article, Blum Center flood expert Dr. Sanders offered some...
In the News: Newport Beach Floods – Sanders Dubs them Harbringers
Last week the Orange County Register turned to Blum Center coastal flooding expert Brett Sanders to understand the cause of recent flooding in Newport Beach. Why might high tidal waters be flooding the coastal Californian town during summer months when waves are...
In the News: Big Waves Sending Big Message
The Los Angeles Times recently published a piece on the changing wave dynamics along California's coast. In this article, several experts were asked to weigh in on a recent study demonstrating that (1) the average height of winter waves along California's coast have...
Research Lead
Brett Sanders (B.S., University of California, Berkeley; M.S., University of Michigan; Ph.D., University of Michigan) is a Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering at the University of California, Irvine. Sanders’ research group specializes in the development of innovative algorithms for flow and transport in river and coastal systems and the integration of information technologies to create more accurate and efficient simulation tools.
Project Information
News
- California’s aging dams face new perils, 50 years after Sylmar quake crisis (LA Times)
- ‘Expect More’: Climate Change Raises Risk of Dam Failures (New York Times)
- Researchers find collaborative flood modeling process effective (National Science Foundation)
- UCI, other researchers find collaborative flood modeling process effective (UCI News)
- Beach dynamics (UCI News)
- Scientists from UC Campuses Study Floods, Flood Socioeconomics (Spectrum News)
- What Is a Nuisance Flood, Exactly? (Eos)
- In a warming climate, ocean- and land-based floods are a disastrous duo, UCI researchers find (UCI News)
- Over time, nuisance flooding can cost more than extreme, infrequent events (UCI News)
Graduate Degrees
Employment Opportunities
No positions are currently available.