Project Grant 2213432

This National Science Foundation project grant of $179,999 will support computational modeling to characterize uncertainty in future coastal risk through August 2024. Funded under the Mathematical and Physical Sciences program, the award to Rochester Institute of Technology aims to examine how coastal areas can mitigate damages from sea-level change and coastal flooding. The grantee will develop software and conduct computer model experiments to assess uncertainty in geophysical and socioeconomic factors that influence decisions and costs to effectively protect coastal assets. Machine learning and statistical tools will be integrated with existing models. This coupled modeling framework will characterize uncertainty in future coastal adaptation costs and decisions, attributing sources of uncertainty to geophysical drivers of risk and socioeconomic variables. The research seeks to inform optimal strategies for adapting coastal areas to risks posed by sea-level change under different decision-making criteria.