Investigating Ways to Better Communicate Flood Risk

Summary There are very few current flood maps designed to actually help people understand their flood risk: they are designed as regulation and planning tools. In an effort to understand how flood maps can more accurately show and communicate the changing nature of...

How Residents in Texas Seek Flood Risk Information

Summary A recent study in Risk Analysis by researchers at the Technology and Information Policy Institute (TIPI) found that a shared sense of duty around seeking flood information — if your family or community thinks it’s important to do, so will you — is the most...

Mom and Pop Businesses: Reactive, but Resilient

By Andrea Martinez, Class of 2026 My community, Brownsville, Texas, is home to many small businesses and entrepreneurs. The local businesses in the community are frequently owned by Brownsville natives and are family operated. Brownsville, on the border of Mexico and...

Learning to Reframe Rejection in Community Interviews

By Daniel Guerra, Class of 2027 Although the send-off was the most difficult part of the process, I am now finding myself safely sailing and enjoying the view. In reality, nothing major changed from my previous approach at this interview process: I persistently...

South Texas’s Disaster Recovery

By José Manuel Vazquez, Class of 2026 Disasters strike in all parts of our Earth. On a smaller scale, my community has undergone a few natural disasters. Among the three biggest disasters, South Texas has endured a pandemic, a handful of flooding incidents, and a few...

Business Success by Overcoming Challenges: Passion Matters

By Mariana Arevalo For the South Texas small business interview portion of the Disaster Strength Research Program, I had a primary source perspective on how circumstances fluctuate for these owners. As I interviewed people from my community, I realized they all shared...

My RGV: Stories Grounding Disaster Strength

By Andrea Martinez, Class of 2026 The city of Brownsville, my hometown, is renowned for its orientation to the South Texas Gulf Coast and border with Mexico as well as its rich history. My close connection to the culture of South Texas prompted my participation in UT...

History as a Window into My Community in South Texas

By Mariana Arevalo, Class of 2026 Oftentimes, we are just existing rather than living without knowing the context and purpose of our duty in this world we call Earth. On June 6, 2022, I had the opportunity to attend the Museum of South Texas History in the city of...