Research Interest

• Environmental and water resources systems modeling
• Data Analytics, Machine learning, Deep learning
• Climate change impacts on Human-Environmental systems

Projects

Future of United States coastal housing market and the National Flood Insurance Program in a changing climate

Flooding caused by rising sea levels, intensified storm surges, and extreme rainfall has huge impacts on human-water systems, posing an increasing threat to the national economy and financial stability in the United States. We use socio-environmental models and climate emission scenarios and projected a substantial rise in flood damage, which could put the National Flood Insurance Program in a more tenuous position, and potentially raise the risk of a future housing market crash. Additionally, the flood risk is disproportionately distributed, with the most socially vulnerable populations facing the greatest danger.

Related Links and Publications:

Publication in Nature Communication Earth & Environment: Differential flood insurance participation and housing market trajectories under future coastal flooding in the United States

Cover in UConn Today: US Flood Governance Drives Social Inequity and Maybe the Next Housing Market Crash

Cover in Springer Nature: US Flood Governance Drives Social Inequity and Maybe the Next Housing Market Crash

Presentation in CSDMS annual meeting: Flood Risk and Housing Market Dynamics Across CONUS Coastal Communities

Role of flood insurance, risk perception, and memory of flood in the dynamics of coastal housing market

How flooding affects home values can determine the path of economic recovery for communities and have lasting impacts on national and global financial systems. Our Study (for 1970 to 2021) in the coastal census tracts of New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut, US found that initial economic impact of Hurricane Sandy (2012, 3.5m MSL) was largely absorbed by the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP); however, the region then exhibited a long-term decline in home values. Participation in the National Flood Insurance Program, communities’ perception of risk, and the memory of past flooding events were important regional drivers of housing prices.

Related Links and Publications:

Publication in Environmental Research Letters: Housing market dynamics of the post-Sandy Hudson estuary, Long Island Sound, and New Jersey coastline are explained by NFIP participation

Presentation in AGU fall meeting: The Temporal Impact of Flooding on the Coastal Housing Market of New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut in a Changing Climate