Summer brings sunshine, longer days, and for many investigators on campus a time for focused research. But summer also stresses some of our planet’s most vital resources – water, coastal ecosystems, plants, and animals. Carolina researchers are committed year-round to understanding these seasonal challenges and developing solutions for a more sustainable future.
Water Scarcity and Conservation
As many of you head for the water this summer, Carolina’s expertise in water research is on full display. The College of Arts and Sciences’ earth, marine, and environmental sciences (EMES) department and the Gillings School of Global Public Health’s environmental sciences & engineering department are hubs of innovation.
EMES researcher Tamlin Pavelsky is part of an international team mapping the amount of water on Earth. He serves as lead hydrologist on a cutting-edge NASA research mission that deployed a satellite last year to examine the world’s river flow, lake storage, and ocean circulation. This crucial data helps us understand water availability and predict potential hazards.
Geochemist Xiao-Ming Liu investigates how chemical weathering (rock decomposition) influences Earth’s evolution and future climate. Her lab studies the relationship between precipitation, water use, storage, and availability. This research helps us understand the impact of weather patterns on ecosystems and water resources.
W. R. Kenan Jr., Distinguished Professor Greg Characklis directs the Center on Financial Risk in Environmental Systems which conducts research to identify solutions to environmental challenges. In recent work, he proposed an innovative solution for drought-stressed systems and infrastructure through cost-effective, informal water leases that provide cheap and fast alternative access by diverting water based on short-term supply and demand.
Researchers at the Gillings’ Water Institute tackle numerous water-related issues, including access to clean water, sanitation systems, and the impact of contaminants on human health. Affiliated faculty are delving deeper into many specific aspects. For instance, environmental engineer Michael Fisher explores sanitation processes and develops, evaluates, and applies technologies and methods for addressing under-recognized health concerns in water and sanitation, both in the U.S. and internationally.
Resilient Coastlines
The Carolina-led Coastal Resilience Center (CRC) is a national consortium and Department of Homeland Security center of excellence. This powerhouse of knowledge unites researchers from our institution, other universities, private companies, and government agencies.
The CRC develops tools and resources for emergency services to predict coastal flooding location and intensity. This allows for better evacuation planning, resource allocation, and damage assessment.
The center’s director, Rick Luettich, has been a professor at the UNC Institute of Marine Sciences since 1987, where he has also served as director for the past 20 years. He is internationally recognized and celebrated for co-creating ADCIRC, a computer model that can predict storm surge and flooding during extreme weather events.
Today, ADCIRC is used by a wide range of organizations:
- The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers for coastal infrastructure design like New Orleans’ levee system
- The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration for water-level forecasts
- The Federal Emergency Management Agency for flood hazard levels
- Climate scientists for predicting future flood risks
- The N.C. Department of Transportation for a flood-warning system for roads and bridges
Also at IMS, quantitative ecologist Janet Nye studies how the warming Atlantic Ocean affects fish and fisheries. She uses mathematical and statistical methods to study fish populations and coastal ecosystems. Her research focuses on how environmental variability and human-caused climate change influence ocean acidification, fish populations, and marine ecosystems.
In the city and regional planning department, Miyuki Hino studies climate hazards by conducting cutting-edge research that identifies innovative solutions to environmental stressors, like sea level rise, flood risks, and other climate challenges. She examines how urban development can retain water leading to flooding in areas that have never experienced it before. She also studies the effects of flood risk on property markets and whether governmental buy-out of homes to limit future flood damage is effective.
Higher Temperatures and Human Health
A recent study by Gillings environmental engineering researcher Noah Kittner and PhD student Ying Yu explored the link between outdoor temperature and vulnerability to energy poverty. They found that extremely low-income groups are disproportionately affected by both hot and cold temperatures, facing a greater burden of energy costs.
W. R. Kenan Jr., Distinguished Professor Hans Paerl investigates the connections between climate change, harmful algal blooms, and human health. He and collaborators at the University of Michigan recently received a $6.5 million NSF-NIH co-funded grant to establish a center studying these connections.
The center will conduct field experiments and laboratory analyses to determine which nutrients entering Lake Erie are responsible for toxic algal blooms and determine watershed input reductions needed to mitigate the blooms. This information is critical for determining water quality and for the environmental health managers tasked with ensuring safe, drinkable, and fishable waters. Additional projects will assess human health risks from algal blooms under current and future climate scenarios.
Environments beyond our own
The reach of our researchers is beginning to extend past the fragile systems of our own home planet. Earlier this week, Nature published the Space Omics and Medical Atlas, the largest and most significant collection of data on aerospace medicine and space biology. The atlas examines the molecular, cellular, and physiological impacts of the space environment on humans.
Astronauts from NASA, JAXA, and private space missions donated their own biomedical samples to generate the omics for the report. The atlas project is a collaboration of 100 institutions from more than 25 countries, and Carolina’s Jonathan Schisler of the pharmacology department and the McAllister Heart Center was one of the lead investigators. His project examines the metabolic changes that occur during spaceflight and exposure to moon dust and whether mitochondrial stress can be mitigated through miRNA-based countermeasures.
Commitment to a resilient future
Carolina’ focus on building resilience is not limited to research. The University’s Chief Sustainability Officer and UNC Institute for the Environment Director Mike Piehler leads campus sustainability efforts, including Sustainable Carolina’s plan to achieve carbon neutrality by 2040. The Institute for the Environment also hosts the annual Clean Tech Summit. In March, the summit brought together over 1,000 industry leaders, government officials, and students from across the state and country to generate new clean technology ideas for a resilient and energy-efficient world.
From assessing the impacts of environments in space to mapping water resources across the globe to developing life-saving coastal protection tools, Carolina’s researchers are providing crucial insights for a more sustainable future. They’re not just studying the problems; they’re developing solutions. This work goes beyond summer – it’s about building resilience for generations to come.