The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) and the University of Georgia (UGA) recently announced a partnership that connects the interdisciplinary expertise of UGA’s Institute for Resilient Infrastructure Systems (IRIS), with the vast on-the-ground experience of USACE’s Engineering With Nature® (EWN®) Initiative to form the Network for Engineering With Nature (N-EWN). Through this partnership and a new $2.5 million award to UGA from USACE, researchers are expanding and accelerating EWN and the practice of natural infrastructure in the public and private sectors. The N-EWN partnership will also draw from the expertise of the UGA’s River Basin Center and Center for Integrative Conservation Research. The research team consists of 16 USACE researchers and 16 UGA researchers from ten different colleges, including, the Department of Anthropology's Dr. Don Nelson and Adjunct Faculty, Dr. Meredith Welch-Devine. In a set of pilot projects, the researchers will improve methods for using natural infrastructure to strengthen community resilience, create models and dashboards that allow designers to map out how natural infrastructure can provide more benefits to society, and inspire a new generation of engineers, ecologists and social scientists to utilize natural infrastructure through education and workforce development. To stay updated on the journey, follow the hashtag #N-EWN on Twitter and Instagram, where the team will post updates on the individual projects, researcher profiles, and exciting innovations in the field. Find more information on N-EWN's website.
