A project led by College of Environment and Design Assistant Professor Qiong Wang was selected by the University of Georgia to receive a 2025 Presidential Interdisciplinary Seed Grant.
The project is one of 11 projects selected for the 2025 project cohort. As part of the cohort, the project will receive funding of up to $100,000. This year, 161 proposals were submitted, and fewer than 7% received funding.
The project, “AI-Driven Decision Support Platform for Smart Disaster Resilience Planning,” aims to bridge the decision-making gap between scientific data and real-world planning.
“Many communities have access to a lot of environmental and hazard data, but it can be difficult to translate that information into practical planning decisions,” said Wang. “Our platform will integrate data on flooding, extreme heat, infrastructure and community conditions, and turn it into interactive visualizations, comprehensive analyses and clear recommendations that planners and communities can use to make informed decisions.”
The project team is made up of 13 members whose expertise spans disciplines of urban planning, computing, landscape architecture, engineering, public health and ecology.
“Interdisciplinary collaboration helps ensure that research results are translatable into real-world decision making, which is especially important when working with communities and local governments,” said Wang.
Among the team is CED Professor Jon Calabria, who brings a background of working with nature-based solutions in coastal communities.
“Without UGA’s support, we would not be able to pursue larger grants to help Georgia’s communities, who are less likely to solve these issues on their own,” said Calabria. “We hope to foster collaboration to provide proof of concept.”
This spring, the team will start developing the platform through a pilot program in Chatham County. The idea for the project grew out of Wang’s research on disaster resilience planning and flood mitigation.
“By combining AI with planning, we saw an opportunity to develop a platform that helps communities understand risks, explore future scenarios and design long-term resistance strategies,” said Wang. “We are very honored to receive this award, and appreciate the efforts of our entire team, as well as the support from UGA.”
Project Team:
Qiong Wang (primary investigator, College of Environment and Design)
Jon Calabria (College of Environment and Design)
Geng Yuan (School of Computing)
Charles van Rees (Odum School of Ecology)
Curt Harris and Suhang Song (College of Public Health)
Mark Risse and Jessica Brown (Marine Extension and Georgia Sea Grant)
Yao Wang and Traci Birch (Louisiana State University)
Jun-Whan Lee (University of Texas – Austin)
John Anaghost (City of Savannah Planning Department)
Yunzhi Chen (National Renewable Energy Lab).
Note from Wang:
“I would like to express my sincere thanks to the UGA Office of Research, the Office of the Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs and Provost, the Office of Vice President for Public Service and Outreach, the Office of Service-Learning, Center for Teaching and Learning and the College of Environment and Design. UGA provides a strong platform and valuable resources for researchers to conduct interdisciplinary work, which is beneficial for advancing our research agendas.”
