Natural Disasters

News about UB’s research and advocacy in extreme events and disaster response. (see all topics)

Meet an Expert

Media Advisory: Earthquake simulations to test masonry buildings common in NYC, nationwide
6/4/24
There are more than 800,000 masontry buildings in New York State, and the test results will help officials improve building codes.
UB-led team awarded $750,000 NSF grant to study wildfire inequities
2/28/24
Project addresses emergency management disparities between wealthy, low-income groups.
AI-enhanced indoor farming takes root at the University at Buffalo
2/20/24
Project uses AI to monitor plant health and fine-tune LED lighting systems; could help with food insecurity and sustainability issues.
Media Advisory: UB to conduct earthquake building tests Thursday
12/20/23
Researchers will use shake table to simulate quake on full-scale wood-frame building; could help change building codes, make new buildings safer.
How ChatGPT could help first responders during natural disasters
12/6/23
Researchers train language model to recognize location descriptions in Hurricane Harvey social media posts.
Researchers awarded NSF grant for Lahaina wildfire simulation
10/10/23
Interdisciplinary team to combine AI, high-performance computing and modeling to better understand Lahaina fire; reduce likelihood of future disasters.
What happens when an earthquake hits a building already damaged by coastal flooding?
9/19/23
With more buildings affected by sea level rise, NSF awards $2 million to UB researchers and partners to assess at-risk communities in Hawai’i, elsewhere.
UB volcano expert monitors lava flow around the world
7/27/23
Stephan Kolzenburg studies where and how far lava will flow if a volcano erupts.
Assessment of how climate scientists communicate risk shows imperfections, improvements
6/19/23
The consequences of improving communications are enormous, as civic leaders incorporate climate scientists’ risk assessments into major planning efforts.
UB experts available to discuss wildfire smoke
6/8/23
Experts can address health impacts, how pollution spreads, disaster resilience and more.