Category: News Archive

Clean water is a vital component of life, and without it, human existence as it’s known today would quickly cease. This is largely why water conservation is an important and ever- growing concern, particularly when it comes to natural resources, like rivers, and the allocation and management of fresh water resources.

Shima Mohebbi, assistant professor in the College of Engineering and Computing at George Mason University, together with researchers from the University of Oklahoma, Texas A&M, Clark University, Oklahoma State University, and Florida International University, received a nearly $1.6 million project grant from the National Science Foundation (NSF) for Conservation Incentives and the Socio-Spatial Dynamics of Water Sustainability.

Although this project focuses on the Red River, the second-largest basin located in the southern part of the United States, Mohebbi says the solutions and lessons gained throughout are transferable to water systems around the world.

“Water resource management is a complex problem that is affected by water scarcity, the impact of climate change on water supplies, and decision-makers’ behavior (behind water conservation policies),” Mohebbi says. “Capturing the complex feedback between social and environmental systems over time can raise new fundamental questions in the field of Operations Research and Systems Engineering. This in turn can help with further understanding the intricacies behind water resource management and incentives allocation.”

Under this grant, Mohebbi will develop novel game theory models to understand how conflicts and propensities for cooperative behavior among water users — including farmers — might vary over time across the river network.

The project will start in January 2022 and will run for five years. Working alongside colleagues from fields including geography and environmental sustainability, ecology, and agricultural engineering, Mohebbi says the project’s end goal is to demonstrate how voluntary conservation incentives—like offering subsidies to water users—could potentially be used to achieve water sustainability.

“Along with my student researchers, we will work closely with collaborators, use data collected on user’s belief and behavior, formulate the game theory models, and discover novel and fair solutions around water conservation incentive schemes,” Mohebbi says.

Additionally, Mohebbi is working on another NSF-funded project for Integrative Decision Making Framework to Enhance the Resiliency of Interdependent Critical Infrastructures. This targets water, transportation, and cyber infrastructures.

C-RASC Graduate Fellow and Faculty Member Published Research on the Predictive Resilience of Infrastructure Systems

Infrastructures are interdependent systems, and their interdependency can influence their resilience to routine failures and extreme events. PhD student Babak Aslani, C-RASC graduate fellow, and Shima Mohebbi, Assistant Professor of Systems Engineering and Operations Research, proposed a resilience assessment framework for interdependent water and transportation infrastructures to measure the impact of random failures due to aging infrastructures, natural disasters, and their cascading failures. The framework incorporates the physical network of these infrastructures, social vulnerability indicators, and predictive analytics for a sociotechnical resilience assessment. The findings of this study highlighted that the socioeconomic factors and land use features should be incorporated in interdependent resilience assessment for a more comprehensive and equitable resilience planning. This work is published in Socio-Economic Planning Sciences, the International Journal of public sector decision-making.

The dataset for this research, obtained from the Federal Emergency Management Agency, U.S. Census Data, City of Tampa utilities, and Florida Department of Transportation, are published in Data in Brief, a multidisciplinary and open access journal, to facilitate reusability for any future resilience study.

In January 2021, the American Society for Public Administration (ASPA) launched the ASPA COVID-19 Pandemic Task Force (PTF) to serve as a communications channel for expertise and information related to the novel coronavirus, SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19). The task force was charged with organizing professional webinars, presidential panels, articles, section- and chapter-specific events, policy notes, and an edited volume for widespread dissemination to the ASPA membership and broader field of public administration. This special symposium is an outgrowth of those activities. We now recognize that the pandemic is unique in its severity and breadth, but the lessons of crisis and emergency management throughout history contribute to our understanding, planning, and response to the current pandemic and its appendant social crises. This symposium for Public Administration Review, then, gives us an opportunity to reflect on the constructs more broadly, with an eye toward conceptual development to inform present and future application to crises of this magnitude.

The C-RASC Interim Assistant Director, Dr. Tonya Thornton, and former Leadership Team member while an Assistant Research Professor at the Schar School, is one of the fellow guest editors and also serves as the Co-Chair for the PTF.

For more information, see: https://www.publicadministrationreview.com/2021/11/03/the-nexus-between-emergency-management-public-health-and-equity-responding-to-crisis-and-mitigating-future-hazards/

 

Blog post by C-RASC Summer 2021 Intern, Zach Draper (Georgia State University)

In the 20 years since broadband internet began widespread deployment in 2000, somewhere between 50-75% of US citizens are still waiting for access. Clearly, there is little consensus as to what defines a community as connected, and nearly all current surveys show room for improvement. Political and geographic elements are also limiting factors for access to the benefits of cost-effective, high-speed internet.

Urban populations enjoy much higher connectivity and speeds than their rural counterparts, and it has never been made more evident than during the COVID-19 lockdowns experienced across the country. Many rural populations have had to do without the advantages of telecommunication for healthcare, education, entertainment, and to a large degree, mental health that urban residents rely upon during this difficult time. As we move forward as a nation, we must address access to adequate broadband speeds equitably and sustainably for improved resiliency in communities of all types.

In my work with George Mason University’s Center for Resilient and Sustainable Communities (C-RASC), I am researching the state of rural connectivity in the Commonwealth of Virginia and, more specifically, its impact on agriculture, or “ag.” With farming being one of the largest sectors of Virginia’s economy, it is important for the nation, state, and local communities for farmers to have access to the most effective and sustainable technology available. Connected and precision ag tools drastically reduce cost, waste, and other potential environmental impacts from agriculture. Without proper broadband, widespread digital opportunities for Virginia’s farms will remain elusive.

Maps are vital in understanding where and how connected ag initiatives are focused. On both state and federal levels funding is allocated for addressing the inequity; however, due to existing FCC rules, various factors can be exploited by big telecom to misrepresent connectivity in areas where the market incentive to invest is lacking. Stakeholders at all levels disagree with current maps of the state. My work involves analyzing current maps to identify approaches for more granular mapping in Virginia. I am currently reverse geocoding data from the FCC, Microsoft, and other providing stakeholders to show that the definition of broadband connectivity should suit the needs of citizens first. Later this month, I will be attending a meeting with the Governor’s office alongside C-RASC Director, Dr. Kathy Laskey, and C-RASC Executive Advisor, Dr. Linton Wells II, as well as C-RASC research analyst Paul Rayi, who has been conducting a survey of ag tech needs and gaps. Through my work, I hope to leverage Virginia’s efforts to strategically enhance broadband connectivity, and support pilot programs on several farms I have identified as potential early adopters of ag tech.

 

STAR-TIDES 15th Annual Capabilities Demo 

“Building Sustainable Resilience in a Post COVID–19 World.”   

 Mason Fairfax Campus: October 18 – 20, 2021  (Abstracts due May 24, 2021) 

The STAR–TIDES global knowledge-sharing network, orchestrated by George Mason University’s Center for Resilient and Sustainable Communities (C–RASC), will have its 15th annual capabilities demonstration on Mason’s Fairfax Campus from Oct 18-20, 2021, followed by a related event in Pentagon Center Court on Oct 21-22. The Mason event will combine physical exhibits of publicly available technologies with virtual panels and speakers.  The overarching theme will be “Building Sustainable Resilience in a Post COVID-19 World.” 

This is a call for session abstracts.  This is not a call for exhibitors. Invitations for physical exhibitors at the Mason and Pentagon demos will be sent separately. Within the “Building Sustainable Resilience in a Post COVID-19 World” framework, we are inviting abstract submissions in one of three formats:

• Panel or Interactive Talk: This is a 60-minute timeslot, which can be formatted as a moderated panel, interactive presentation or workshop with one or more presenters. Audience engagement through virtual polling, Q&A or other strategies is strongly encouraged.
• Focused Presentation: This is a 15-minute presentation related to one or more of the platforms/keys to success listed below; Organizers will group focused presentations into themed sessions and assign a session host/moderator.
• Lightning Talk: This is a 5-minute pre-recorded presentation, preferably in the format of a poster. Poster templates can be found in PowerPoint, or through Mason’s Office of Student Scholarship, Creative Activities, and Research. Students are strongly encouraged to present in this format, though this format is not limited only to students. Virtual lightning talk presenters are encouraged to also print physical posters for an in-person poster presentation to be held in Merten Hall on the George Mason University Fairfax campus.

Please click here or visit https://go.gmu.edu/star–tides–abstracts to submit your abstract, which should be received by Monday, May 24, 23:59 EDT. Required information:

• Name
• Affiliation
• Position Title
• Email
• Co-Author Names (The submitter will automatically be listed as first/lead author).
• Presentation Type
• Abstract Title (300 characters)
• Abstract Text (4,000 characters)
• Theme Selection

Abstracts will be reviewed by a panel and scheduled by STAR-TIDES organizers. Lead authors should receive notification of acceptance by June 7 to present their work at the annual STAR-TIDES capabilities demo. If you have questions or are interested in being an exhibitor, email star.tides.net@gmail.com.

For insight into past capabilities demo virtual presentations, please visit   https://www.youtube.com/user/TIDESProject

Presentations that span research and practice are encouraged in the following areas:

Platforms

• Energy & energy storage
• Shelter, heating/cooling & lighting
• Water, Sanitation and Hygiene
• Agriculture and Food Security
• Information and Communications Technology (ICT)
• Nutrition, Public Health, and Integrated Cooking
• Cross-cutting

Keys to Success

• Narrative & Storytelling, Systems Thinking, Ethics
• Education, Knowledge Sharing
• Business and Finance (FinTech, distributed encrypted ledgers, metrics of success, etc.)
• Transportation and Logistics
• Digital Enabling Technologies (GIS, identity management, building digital capacity, etc.)

Zoom is the anticipated platform for virtual sessions, and presenters will receive more details when they are selected and contacted by organizers. Information on registration and how to become an exhibitor at Mason (October 18-20, 2021) and Pentagon Court (October 21-22) coming soon. Email star.tides.net@gmail.com for more information.

What is STAR-TIDES? STAR-TIDES is a global knowledge-sharing network that focuses on building sustainable resilience, promoting human security (freedom from want and freedom from fear), and creating life-changing social and economic activities. These roles have evolved from original support by the U.S. Defense Department’s TIDES (Transformative Innovation for Development and Emergency Support) program to four defense-related mission areas: building partner capacity, humanitarian assistance, and disaster relief, defense support of civil authorities, and stability and peacekeeping operations.

Across the world accelerating rates of technological and social change are putting businesses, governments, security structures, and social compacts under siege. Interconnected stresses and shocks challenge assumptions and best practices. Pressures for migration and marginalization are growing. People, organizations, indeed societies, will need integrated approaches to absorb disruptions and adapt to “new normals.” In any case, the ability to adapt/reposition is critical. The goal should be to leverage the stresses and shocks to emerge stronger. In sum, “Be prepared to bounce forward better.”

Learn more about STAR-TIDES at https://star–tides.net.

Last August, George Mason University faculty and students participated in a series of virtual simulations of school shooter incidents as part of an effort to help the Department of Homeland Security (DHS)  and MITRE Corp. determine best practices for school safety. As a result, DHS’s Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Agency recently released an after-action report recommending ways to protect and increase survival rates of students and staff in such situations.

Stephanie Dailey, assistant professor of counseling in the College of Education and Human Development and Kathryn Laskey, professor of systems engineering and operations research in the Volgenau School of Engineering, were the faculty leads on the project. The simulation experiment (SIMEX) was set in a virtual high school environment modeled after designs in current suburban schools supporting about 1,000 students. Mason faculty, undergraduate and graduate students, and outside educational professionals played the roles of teachers and students. Outside organizations provided school resource officers and administrative personnel.

During the two-week simulation, participants ran through scenarios in which there were different conditions, such as the absence or presence of a school resource officer or manually versus automatically locked classroom doors.

Full story by Anna Stolley Persky posted April 27, 2021 can be found at https://www2.gmu.edu/news/2021-04/mason-students-and-faculty-help-guide-school-security-participating-active-shooter.

 

 

An Opinion Piece from GMU MPA Student and C-RASC Graduate Fellow, Alexandra Albright

In a 2013 article from the Guardian, resilience was called “the sexiest new buzzword in international development.” Yet, the growing popularity of the term without a single cross-cutting definition often draws criticism about whether resilience can move beyond buzzword status to achieve measurable outcomes. I believe resilience offers scholars and practitioners a way of to move forward in a world of increasing uncertainty and disruption. Resilience concepts have evolved separately within the silos of different disciplines. An engineer’s definition of resilience will be different than a social scientist’s definition which will be different from a community organizer’s definition of resilience, and so on. The reality is that resilience does not and will not mean the same thing to everyone. Instead of focusing on the need to develop a singular definition, we can use resilience as a bridge to explore similarities and differences across disciplinary silos.

In my opinion, a useful way for C-RASC to approach the concept of resilience is to understand it as a boundary object. In other words, resilience can be meaningfully understood and conceptualized within disciplines, while serving as a conceptual link and platform to leverage convergence between disciplines. While some may consider resilience as it was defined by Holling (1996) as a return to stability and equilibrium following a disruptive event, others may focus more specifically on ecosystem resilience, absorbing disturbances and changing to a new steady state rather than the previous equilibrium. As a public administration scholar, I often turn to Wildavsky’s concept of resilience as “the capacity to cope with unanticipated dangers after they have become manifest, learning to bounce back” (1988, p.77). Moreover, practitioners in the field may focus more on applied resilience frameworks rather than resilience theory. For instance, the Rockefeller Foundation defines resilience as “the capacity of cities (individuals, communities, institutions, businesses and systems) to survive, adapt, and thrive no matter what kinds of chronic stresses and acute shocks they experience.”

These differences in the conceptualization of resilience can be unique among disciplines/sectors while still sharing some common understandings, allowing resilience to act as a boundary object for convergence. This is the goal of many resilience platforms operating at the functional level by governments and community leaders. At Mason, one of C-RASC’s major goals is to facilitate these kinds of convergent, transdisciplinary research approaches using sustainability and resilience as a boundary objects. The tension between well-defined resilience concepts and a more flexible boundary object created through transdisciplinary work is still being negotiated by scholars. By recognizing the challenge and creating shared goals using resilience as a boundary object, C-RASC and likeminded organizations are able to start looking toward a future where resilience is truly transdisciplinary.

References:

Holling, C. S. (1973). Resilience and stability of ecological systems. Annual review of ecology and systematics, 4(1), 1-23.

Holling, C. S. (1996). Engineering resilience versus ecological resilience. Engineering within ecological constraints, 31(1996), 32. https://www.nap.edu/read/4919/chapter/4

Wildavsky, A. B. (1988). Searching for safety. Transaction Publishers. https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/027046769001000432