ARISE Research Team (2022-2027)

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
• Tianjun Sun, Assistant Professor, Psychological Sciences, Kansas State University; Themes 1 and 4 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 & Community Engagement Team Members

• Claudia Bode, Education, Outreach, and Diversity Director, Kansas NSF EPSCoR
• Tonya Bronleewe, Director, Environmental Finance Center, Wichita State University
• Cynthia Esiaka, Graduate Assistant, Center for Service Learning, University of Kansas
• 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
• Alej Martinez, Program Coordinator for Education and Community Engagement, Kansas NSF EPSCoR
• Beth Montelone, Senior Associate Vice President for Research, Kansas State University, Leads Kansas Louis-Stokes Alliance for Minority Participation (LSAMP) program
• Doyinsola Ogunremi, Graduate Research Assistant, Center for Service Learning, University of Kansas
• Mary Patterson, Data Science Core Instructor for the Saturday Academy, Kansas City Kansas Community College
• Jessica Rodas, Program Manager for Office of Diversity and Inclusion, School of Medicine Dean’s Office, University of Kansas Medical Center 
• Jeff Severin, Program Associate, Environmental Finance Center, Wichita State University
• 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
• Nicholas Willis, Senior Program Manager, Environmental Finance Center, Wichita State University

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
• Gryffin Eason, Project Manager, University of Kansas
• Edina Harsay, Graduate Research Assistant, 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.”

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.”

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