The COVID-19 pandemic has introduced obstacles to all aspects of life. Whole Communities–Whole Health it sprinting toward the launch of its 5-year cohort study. However, our teams have met the challenges of our changing world by engaging in research that will directly effect people amid the pandemic. 

To protect ourselves and others during the COVID-19 pandemic, most of us have had to shift our everyday lives to our homes. This has led to a steep drop in the amount of physical activity our kids are getting. 

The Protect Texas Together app will allow people to track their COVID-19 symptoms, record test results, get connected to medical resources and — potentially, in the future — even assist in contact tracing.

Casey Boyle and Craig Campbell developed a project, Greeting Cards for the Anthropocene, to promote collaboration across disciplines, using greeting cards as a basis for discussing climate change.

Texas is no stranger to drought seasons. Both the 1950s and 2010s saw long dry spells that threatened the way of life for people who call the state home. However, these intense droughts could be nothing compared to what Texas may see in the future, new research published in the journal Earth’s Future finds.

The landscape along the U.S.-Mexico border has changed drastically over the past 150 years — from fencing to surveillance infrastructure to damming and hydraulic projects.

UT researchers have been working with Southeast Texas Regional Advisory Council (SETRAC) over the past three years to build a more efficient model that would show, very clearly, where flooding is expected during major storms. SETRAC could then use that model to decide where to stage assets like ambulances and how to evacuate patients.

As Texas’s population is expected to nearly double in the next 30 years, Planet Texas 2050 grand challenge researchers find it important to understand what effect rapid urbanization will have on the natural environment.

This story highlights how we’re committed to developing technology that puts information about indoor air quality into the hands of the people who can use it most.

Climate change is straining our natural and built environments as well as our social networks. Add to that a growing population — Texas’ numbers are expected to double in the next 30 years — and cities throughout our region are facing water scarcity, inadequate infrastructure, and other strains.