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.

It is widely anticipated that one of the enduring impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic will be a drastic rise in mental health cases. This will necessitate more inventive ways to deliver care, including the use of technology, which Good Systems research is helping to address.

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.

To date, Good Systems researchers are leading at least a dozen projects related to COVID-19, just as our grand challenge moves into its second year.

University of Texas researchers argue that information scientists have a bigger role to play in the COVID-19 crisis because of the proliferation of conflicting messages. We asked three experts, who have been sheltering-in-place for the past two months in Austin, Texas, to tell us more about their perspectives on the pandemic.

Even in a life full of shocks big and small, people typically find their own personal equilibrium over time, balancing core feelings of sadness, happiness and fear. What people feel in the immediate aftermath of even the most significant life events.

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.

When COVID-19 began actually infecting bodies around the globe earlier this year, UT community and regional planning associate professor Junfeng Jiao decided to look at the transportation system as a way to predict the virus’ spread.

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.

The bacterium Burkholderia pseudomallei, which causes the serious disease melioidosis, is normally found in tropical and subtropical environments but is now present in parts of Central America, Mexico, Puerto Rico — and even Texas. UT’s Planet Texas 2050 grand challenge team is studying the bacterium Burkholderia pseudomallei by examining regional soil, water, weather, and land use data, as well as other risk factors, to identify potential ecological niches in Texas where Burkholderia might thrive.