ARISE Research Team (2022-2027)

Adaptive and Resilient Infrastructures Driven by Social Equity, NSF EPSCoR RII Track-1 #2148878

Team member catergories

Project Leaders

Theme Leaders

Research Investigators

Education & Community Engagement

Kansas Data Science Consortium Team

First Award Recipients

Research and Education Innovation Recipients

Postdoctoral Associates

Postdoc & Student Leadership Group (PSLG)

General Staff

charts showing participant organization, gender, and category

ARISE Team Metrics

This graphic shows a snapshot of the ARISE team at 7 months. The team includes members from eight universities and colleges in Kansas. Investigators explore four themes: Theme 1 focuses on understanding equity measurements and interdependent infrastructure systems; Theme 2 develops an evaluation framework; Theme 3 considers four case studies for hypothesis testing; and Theme 4 integrates research into decision-lever case studies and decision support tools. Learn about ARISE

Project Leaders

  • Belinda Sturm (she), Professor, ARISE Director, Civil, Environmental & Architectural Engineering, University of Kansas
  • Bala Natarajan (he), Professor, Electrical and Computer Engineering, Kansas State University; Theme 2 Co-Lead
  • Elaina Sutley (she), Associate Professor, Associate Dean of Diversity School of Engineering, Civil, Environmental & Architectural Engineering, University of Kansas; Theme 4 Co-Lead

      Research Theme Leaders

      • George Amariucai (he), Associate Professor, Computer Science, Kansas State University; Theme 1 Co-Lead
      • Visvakumar Aravinthan (he), Associate Professor, Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, Wichita State University; Theme 3 Co-Lead
      • HM Abdul Aziz (he), Assistant Professor, Civil Engineering, Kansas State University; Theme 3 Co-Lead
      • Jason Bergtold (he), Professor, Agricultural Economics, Kansas State University; Theme 1 Co-Lead
      • Justin Hutchison (he), Assistant Professor, Civil, Environmental & Architectural Engineering, University of Kansas; Theme 3 Co-Lead
      • Rachel Krause (she), Associate Professor, Public Affairs & Administration, University of Kansas; Theme 2 Co-Lead
      • Xiaoheng Wang (she), Assistant Professor, Public Affairs, Wichita State University; Theme 3 Co-Lead

        Research Investigators

        • Elizabeth Embry, Assistant Professor, School of Business, University of Kansas
        • Jude Kastens (he), Associate Research Professor, Kansas Applied Remote Sensing, University of Kansas
        • Joel Mendez (he), Assistant Professor, Public Affairs & Administration, University of Kansas
        • Anil Pahwa (he), University Distinguished Professor, Electrical and Computer Engineering, Kansas State University
        • Edward Peltier (he), Associate Chair and Professor of Civil, Environmental & Architectural Engineering, University of Kansas
        • Vaishali Sharda (she), Assistant Professor, Biological and Agricultural Engineering, Kansas State University

          Education & Workforce Development

          • Claudia Bode, Education, Outreach, and Diversity Director, Kansas NSF EPSCoR
          • Tonya Bronleewe, Director, Environmental Finance Center, Wichita State University
          • Eleanor Gardner, Outreach and Engagement Coordinator, University of Kansas Biodiversity Institute and Natural History Museum
          • Carolyn Kocken, Education Program Coordinator, University of Kansas Biodiversity Institute and Natural History Museum
          • Teresa MacDonald (she), Associate Director of Informal Science Education, Natural History Museum, University of Kansas, Leads ARISE museum and outreach initiatives
          • Beth Montelone, Senior Associate Vice President for Research, Kansas State University, Leads Kansas Louis-Stokes Alliance for Minority Participation (LSAMP) program
          • Mary Patterson, Data Science Core Instructor for the Saturday Academy, Kansas City Kansas Community College
          • Jeff Severin, Program Associate, Environmental Finance Center, Wichita State University
          • Nicholas Willis, Senior Program Manager, Environmental Finance Center, Wichita State University

                Community Engagement

                • Cynthia Esiaka, Graduate Assistant, Center for Service Learning, University of Kansas
                • Alej Martinez, Program Coordinator for Education and Community Engagement, Kansas NSF EPSCoR
                • Doyinsola Ogunremi, Graduate Research Assistant, Center for Service Learning, University of Kansas
                • Christina Pacheco, Assistant Professor, Family Medicine and Community Health, University of Kansas Medical Center
                • Jomella Watson-Thompson (she), Associate Professor, Director, Center of Community Health and Development, University of Kansas; Leads Community Engaged Research
                • Dola Williams, Research Project Coordinator, Center for Community Health and Development, University of Kansas

                      Kansas Data Science Consortium (KDSC) Team

                      • Janice Akao, Professor of Accounting, Butler Community College
                      • Michael Branicky, Professor of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science and Former Dean of Engineering, University of Kansas, Co-leads KDSC
                      • William Duncan, Assistant Research Professor of Data Science, University of Kansas, Co-leads KDSC
                      • Jeffrey Girard, Assistant Professor of Psychology, University of Kansas, Co-leads KDSC
                      • Edina Harsay, Graduate Research Assistant, University of Kansas
                      • Emma Howard, Research Project Specialist, University of Kansas
                      • Safia Malallah, Research Associate, Kansas State University
                      • Ana Maradiaga, Assistant Professor of Chemistry and Director of Liberal Arts and Sciences, Donnelly College
                      • Jiji Osiobe, Assistant Professor of Business, Economics, and Data Analytics, Baker University
                      • Sergio Salinas Monroy (he), Associate Professor, Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, Wichita State University
                      • Lior Shamir (he), Associate Professor, Computer Science, Kansas State University
                      • Suzanne Smith, Associate Professor of Mathematics, Johnson County Community College
                      • Judy Smrha, Chair and Professor of Business and Economics, Baker University
                      • Fujian Yan, Assistant Teaching Professor, Wichita State University

                        First Award Recipients

                        March 2023

                        • Davood Babaei Pourkargar, Assistant Professor, Tim Taylor Department of Chemical Engineering, Kansas State University, 2023 award: “Distributed green ammonia generation for resilient energy storage and fertilizer production in rural communities.”

                        November 2023

                        • Xiaolong Guo, Assistant Professor, Electrical and Computer Engineering, Kansas State University, 2023 award: “LLM4KSS: Large-language Models for Kansas Science.”
                        • Amanda Hovious, Assistant Professor, School of Library and Information Management, Emporia State University, 2023 award: “Data Literacy for All: A Kansas Public Library Initiative.”
                        • Zelalem Demissie, Assistant Professor, Department of Geology, Wichita State University, 2023 award: “The use of Radar technology and AI techniques to forecast early-stage drought in Kansas.”
                        • Davi Soares, Assistant Professor, Electrical and Computer Engineering, Wichita State University, 2023 award: “Physics-informed machine learning model for assessment of state of health of lithium-ion batteries used in resilient infrastructure applications.”

                        June 2024

                        • Matthew Howland, Wichita State University, 2024 award: Improving Cultural Heritage Resilience through Modeling and Quantification of Erosion Risks to Heritage Sites

                        • Melinda Adams, Langston Hughes Assistant Professor, Geography & Atmospheric Science and Indigenous Studies, University of Kansas, 2024 award: Indigenous-Led Cultural Burns and Research In Resiliency with Kansas Tribes

                        • Hongyang Sun, Assistant Professor, Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of Kansas, 2024 award: Towards Robust Resilience for Large Computing Infrastructures 

                            Research and Education Innovation (REI) Award Recipients

                            March 2023

                            • Shakil Bin Kashem, Assistant Professor, Landscape Architecture and Regional & Community Planning, Kansas State University, 2023 award: “Virtual and Augmented Reality Technologies for Enhancing Disaster Risk Awareness in Vulnerable Communities.”
                            • Christopher Koliba, Stene Distinguished Professor, School of Public Affairs and Administration, University of Kansas, 2023 award: “An Institutional and Behavioral Design Approach to Improving the Use of Flood Forecast Information for the Kansas City Metro Portion of the Missouri River Basin.”
                            • Atri Dutta, Associate Professor of Aerospace Engineering, Wichita State University, 2023 award: “Understanding and Mitigating Bias of AI-based Natural Disaster Assessment Models for Rescue Coordination and Resiliency.”
                            • Ehsan Salari, Associate Professor, Department of Industrial, Systems, and Manufacturing Engineering, Wichita State University, 2023 award: “Modeling Electric-vehicle (EV) Infrastructure Resilience Using a Socio-economic Approach.”
                            • Wujun Si, Assistant Professor, Department of Industrial, Systems, and Manufacturing Engineering, Wichita State University, 2023 award: “Integrating Social Equity into Infrastructure Maintenance Planning Towards Resiliency.”

                            November 2023

                            • Joseph P. Brewer, II, Associate Professor, Environmental Sciences Director, Indigenous Studies Program, University of Kansas, 2023 award: “Native Prairie Restoration & Climate Resilience on the Ioway Nation in Kansas and Nebraska.”
                            • S. Amin Enderami, Postdoctoral Researcher, Department of Civil, Environmental, and Architectural Engineering, University of Kansas, 2023 award: “Evaluating Feasibility of Buyouts as Adaptation Strategy for Post-Wildfire Flash Floods.”
                            • Ali Eslami, Associate Professor, Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Wichita State University, 2023 award: “Developing a Network Science to Study Cascading Failures in the Cyber-Physical Infrastructure.”
                            • Jeffrey Girard, Assistant Professor, Psychology, University of Kansas, 2023 award: “Kansas Data Science Training Pathways | An Integrated Model.”
                            • Admin Husic, Assistant Professor, Civil, Environmental, and Architectural Engineering, University of Kansas, 2023 award: “The inequity of urban flooding: exploring societal and climatic drivers across scales.”

                            June 2024

                            • Xiaolong Guo, Assistant Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Kansas State University, Guarding the Gatekeepers: Ensuring the Safety of IoT Sensors in Essential Infrastructure

                            • Andrew Swindle, Associate Professor of Hydrogeology; Environmental Geochemistry, Wichita State University, Enhanced resilience of drinking water accessibility in Kansas using probabilistic machine learning

                            • John Symons, Professor of Philosophy, University of Kansas Institute for Information Sciences, Advancing fairness in machine learning: a multidisciplinary approach

                                Postdoctoral Research Associates

                                • Saranga Abeygunawardane, Postdoctoral Researcher, Electrical and Computer Engineering, Wichita State University
                                • Amin Enderami, Postdoctoral Researcher, Civil, Environmental, and Architectural Engineering, University of Kansas
                                • Rahul Madbhavi, Postdoctoral Research Associate, Electrical and Computer Engineering, Kansas State University
                                • Amulya Sreejith, Postdoctoral Researcher, Kansas State University
                                • Hsi-Chuan Wang, Postdoctoral Researcher, School of Public Affairs and Administration, University of Kansas

                                    Postdoc Student Leadership Group (PSLG)

                                    • Saranga Abeygunawardane, Postdoctoral Researcher in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Wichita State University
                                    • Prudhviraj Dhanapala, Graduate Research Associate in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Kansas State University
                                    • Madison Graham, Graduate Research Associate in the Department of Applied Behavioral Science, University of Kansas
                                    • Carter Hassman, Undergraduate in the Department of Chemical and Petroleum Engineering, University of Kansas
                                    • Adithya Melagoda, Graduate Research Associate in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Wichita State University
                                    • Adaeze Okeukwu, Graduate Research Associate in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Kansas State University

                                      General Staff

                                      • Doug Byers, Assistant Director, Kansas NSF EPSCoR
                                      • Liz Ruder, Program and Project Manager, Kansas State University
                                      • Cynthia Walker, Financial Program Manager, Kansas NSF EPSCoR