Understanding Individual and Community Perception in the Context of Flooding and Flood Mitigation

The Rifai group, in collaboration with social scientists and policy researchers, develops methods and approaches for assessing community perceptions of flood risk and their understanding of flood mitigation. The research will enhance engagement and participation of communities in resiliency and sustainability challenges.

At the Interface of Environmental Quality, Climate, and Health

The Rifai group is investigating challenges at the interface of environmental quality, climate, and health. Climate change is projected to exacerbate air and water quality, and increase the frequency and severity of extreme events. The impacts on environmental quality and human and ecosystem health have not been fully articulated. Several dimensions of this challenge are being addressed via interdisciplinary collaborations with researchers in social science, population health, medicine, science, and policy. Improving data and information systems and modernizing monitoring and observation technologies are aspects that are being addressed via machine learning, artificial intelligence, and innovation with technology.

Resilient Power Generation Technologies for Improving Air Quality

The research investigates the use of more efficient power generation technologies using Supercritical CO2 (sCO2) that when implemented will help reduce emissions and lead to improvements in air quality. The project is a collaboration between the Rifai Group and GTI (with other industrial partners); the project leverages the pilot plant project (STEP Project) that illustrates the novel power sCO2 power generation technology.

Environmental Quality and Associations with COVID-19 and Human Health

The association between air, soil, water, and groundwater quality and human health is elucidated using geospatial analytics and big data. Air quality, vulnerability to flooding, and proximity to hazardous waste sites are among the factors that are explored in terms of COVID-19 prevalence, morbidity, and mortality.

Compound Flooding and Cascading Impacts of Natural Hazards

Hurricanes are often accompanied with storm surge and significant rainfall. Flooding during a hurricane can be caused by storm surge, rainfall, or channel flows that exceed channel capacities. Compound flooding, or flooding caused by more than one of the aforementioned factors, causes elevated water depths in built and natural environments and necessitates linking surge models with hydrologic and hydraulic models of water movement in watersheds. The inundation due to rainfall and channel flows, in addition to wind damage, have cascading impacts that include failures in industrial and environmental systems. Such failures introduce pollutants in the environment and result in risks of exposure in affected communities. Research in the Rifai group is focused on loosely or dynamically linking models to elucidate vulnerabilities, risks, and adverse outcomes from compound flooding and infrastructure failures.

Dioxins and Polychlorinated Biphenyls in the Houston Ship Channel and Galveston Bay

The Rifai Group continues to study the presence of dioxins and polychlorinated biphenyls in the Houston Ship Channel and Galeveston Bay. The research started in 2002 and has resulted in the most extensive high-quality dataset encompassing water, sediment, and tissue sampling over time. In recent years, sampling events have preceded and immediately followed Hurricanes Ike and Harvey and resulted in enhanced understanding of the impact of natural hazards on the redistribution of pollutants in bays and estuaries as a result of altered dynamics of sediment fate and transport