Science for Hazards, Impact Evaluation, and Long-Term Defense (SHIELD)
Earth hazards — such as floods, heatwaves, wildfires, hurricanes, earthquakes, landslides, and volcanic eruptions — have profound impacts on human life and infrastructure. These extreme events sometimes occur together or in sequence (i.e., cascading), exacerbating and prolonging socio-economic impacts. Some Earth hazards can result from chronic conditions or gradual changes, accumulating damage over a long period of time. Others are acute, occurring quickly and seemingly with few warning signs. Understanding, monitoring, predicting, and mitigating these Earth hazards and their associated risks is crucial for society.
The Jackson School is home to many world-leading experts on various aspects of Earth hazards. But the impact of our research could be significantly enhanced by taking more integrative approaches to understanding the physics of these hazards and how they translate to risks to infrastructure and people. The goal of this SIP is to create a hub for a comprehensive Earth hazard research program. The program is named SHIELD: Science for Hazard, Impact Evaluation, and Long-term Defense.
Goals
SHIELD aims to establish stakeholder engagement across five types of Earth hazards: floods, droughts, earthquakes, wildfires, heatwaves, and coastal hazards. The ultimate goals are to coalesce and amplify current and future Jackson School research into an effective and leading program in understanding Earth hazards and risks. This SIP will achieve these goals by enhancing Jackson School collaborations, bringing together global leaders (industry, academics, policy makers) through Earth hazard workshops, and providing seed funding for pilot research projects related to these hazard themes.
Leads
James Thompson
Research Assistant Professor
Bureau of Economic Geology
Expertise: Wildland fire science, Volcanology, Instrumentation
Yuko Okumura
Research Associate Professor
University of Texas Institute for Geophysics
Expertise: Dynamics of climate variability and changes, ocean-atmosphere interactions
Focus Areas and Sub-Teams
SHIELD will create sub-teams focused on five types of Earth hazards. The leaders and sub-team leaders will identify other contributing experts across the Jackson School and the UT research community and discuss ways to connect our research to maximize societal impact.
Hydroclimate extremes
Floods, droughts, water resources
Lead: Bridget Scanlon
Research Professor, Bureau of Economic Geology
Heatwaves
Extreme temperature and humidity, human health impact
Lead: Geeta Persad
Assistant Professor, Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences
Wildfires
Fire weather, post-fire landslides, and environmental pollution
Lead: Danielle Touma
Assistant Professor, University of Texas Institute for Geophysics
Coastal hazards
Hurricanes, storm surges, and sea level
Lead: Chris Lowery
Research Associate Professor, University of Texas Institute for Geophysics
Earthquakes
Earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, and landslides
Lead: Alexandros Savvaidis
Research Professor, Bureau of Economic Geology
Opportunities
Project SHIELD will provide opportunities to existing and incoming Jackson School graduate students and postdoctoral fellows to participate in SHIELD. Please find current opportunities below and reach out to the SIP leads at SIP_Leads@jsg.utexas.edu with “[SHIELD]” included in the subject line for additional information.
2026 Graduate Student Entry Scholarship
Project SHIELD is excited to sponsor an incoming graduate student starting Fall 2026 to study Earth hazards under this initiative. The successful candidate is expected to pursue Earth hazard research aligned with Project SHIELD’s goals, building on and expanding the existing expertise at the Jackson School. Applicants are encouraged to discuss their potential projects with two or more Jackson School faculty members/researchers, who will serve as prospective mentors and provide nomination letters to the SIP leads. Applicants are encouraged to apply for graduate school through the official UT submission process and indicate their interest in working alongside Project SHIELD. The two or more prospective applicant advisors (Jackson School faculty members/researchers) should submit nomination letters (up to 2 pages) explaining how the student’s research will contribute to the goal of Project SHIELD via email to SIP_Leads@jsg.utexas.edu with the subject line “[SHIELD] 2026 Graduate Student Entry Scholarship.” Deadline is January 15.
Postdoctoral Fellowship: A link to apply is coming soon. Submit by January 30 for full consideration.