Department of Environmental & Sustainability Sciences

Dr. Lavy was just awarded a grant as co-PI through the NSF Civic Innovation Challenge (CIVIC) Program: Climate and Environmental Instability - Building Resilient Communities through Co-Design, Adaption, and Mitigation entitled Enhancing community resilience to tree damages under ice storm events through co-design and co-learning. In an exciting new collaboration with the University of Oklahoma, Dr. Lavy is spearheading a groundbreaking initiative to protect communities from the dangers of ice storms. By teaming up with community members, Dr. Lavy and his team will map tree hazards that could pose risks during these storms, creating a real-time, citizen-driven reporting system. This effort aims to boost community resilience, improve urban forestry management, and help shape smarter disaster preparedness strategies. The project kicks off with hands-on workshops, where residents will play a direct role in shaping this innovative approach to environmental risk management. The team will gather insights to fuel the development of a comprehensive proposal for the next stage of this vital work.   (continue reading)