Todd BenDor, professor of city and regional planning at Carolina, witnesses the staggering effects that natural disasters have on the coast of North Carolina each time he visits the Outer Banks.

With the 2020 Atlantic hurricane season encompassing the most storms on record, natural disasters are taking a toll on coastal communities now more than ever. Because of this, BenDor has joined a team of researchers at Carolina who are addressing the long-term impacts of extreme events — hurricanes, floods and forest fires — on North Carolina’s coast from an interdisciplinary perspective.

The “Dynamics of Extreme Events, People and Places” project brings together researchers from the social and natural sciences, engineering and planning to investigate extreme weather events from all angles, including impacts on health and well-being, economic hardships and environmental harm. Each researcher is focusing on a specific topic and will collaborate with the team to exchange resources and insights to ignite transformative change.

Thanks to a recent $3.5 million grant from the National Science Foundation, the team is confident their interdisciplinary approach is worth pursuing.

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