NYS RISE Storm Preparedness Initiative Taps Prof. Rae Zimmerman

Governor Andrew M. Cuomo has announced the launch of the New York State Resiliency Institute for Storms & Emergencies (NYS RISE), an “applied think tank” led by New York University and Stony Brook University -- and NYU Wagner professor Rae Zimmerman will participate as a researcher. According to the Governor’s announcement, the new Institute “will serve as a hub of research and education on emergency preparedness, as well as a clearinghouse of information regarding extreme weather and natural disasters.”

Rae Zimmerman, Professor of Planning and Public Administration, has been working under the leadership of NYUPoly and other members of NYS RISE as a researcher in infrastructure resiliency and planning-related issues in connection with extreme weather events.

In addition to NYU and Stony Brook University, partners in the research consortium include Columbia University, Cornell University, City University of New York, and Brookhaven National Laboratory.

Professor Zimmerman has been involved in considerable research in the infrastructure and environmental fields, especially in the context of extreme events, and is the Director of the Institute for Civil Infrastructure Systems (ICIS) at NYU Wagner. She currently directs a National Science Foundation-funded “RAPID” grant on infrastructure-related effects of Hurricane Sandy, as well as a University Transportation Research Center (Region 2)-funded study of transportation connectivity, in part covering how connectivity is related to adaptation during extreme events.

For more information, visit http://www.governor.ny.gov/press/11012013-nys-rise.