UMBC researchers have secured a $1,031,000 congressional earmark to launch a vital new initiative tackling the escalating threat of flooding in Maryland’s most vulnerable communities.

Led by Alan Yeakley, professor, and Dillon Mahmoudi, associate professor, both in geography and environmental systems, the project establishes the UMBC Laboratory for Flood Risk Impact Assessment and Adaptation in Impoverished Maryland Communities. This lab will serve as a hub for analyzing and tracking the impacts of rising flood risks on low-income populations in both urban and rural areas across the state. Yeakley and Mahmoudi will bring on two postdoctoral researchers and graduate and undergraduate research assistants, who will gain critical skills in community-engaged research and data analytics while supporting the work.

The project focuses on communities along the Chesapeake Bay and its major tributaries, including historically underserved neighborhoods in Baltimore such as Turner Station. Researchers will investigate how the legacies of blockbusting and redlining have heightened flood vulnerability in low-income areas and assess whether flood mitigation resources have been distributed equitably. The team will also evaluate the current state of adaptation strategies at every level—from individual households to the city, county, state, and federal governments.

Through hands-on workshops, interviews with residents, and discussions with government agency personnel, the lab will document communities’ existing adaptation methods and raise awareness of growing hazards. Advanced computer modeling completed in UMBC’s state-of-the-art geographic information systems (GIS) laboratory will help quantify predicted risks, which researchers will share with affected communities along with practical, low-cost strategies to enhance resilience. This approach will foster opportunities to co-create solutions, in alignment with UMBC’s commitment to bidirectional partnerships with our neighbors as we all seek to address environmental challenges.

“We’re thrilled to be able to help local communities experiencing flooding along the Chesapeake Bay,” Yeakley says. “We hope to learn what they are already doing to mitigate these hazards, and to suggest strategies that might improve their resilience to ongoing and future threats to their properties and their lives. We also hope that, eventually, communities will share successful strategies with each other directly, creating a grassroots network of neighborhood and environmental stewardship.”