Featured Projects

Heat-Health and Pregnancy

Extreme heat is dangerous and can lead to heat exhaustion, heat stroke, and even death. Pregnancy increases vulnerability to extreme heat. Exposure to high temperatures during pregnancy is associated with a variety of adverse pregnancy-related health outcomes including maternal morbidity, preterm birth, low birth weight, cardiac birth defects, neural tube defects, stillbirth, and placental abruption. Despite growing academic and clinical awareness of the health threats posed by extreme heat, information focused on extreme heat and pregnancy has not been readily available to the public. Our NOAA-funded project aims to identify how weather information is used during pregnancy as a cue to engage in heat-health protective actions. 

Heat-health protective actions are undertaken to reduce adverse health outcomes. These actions can include limiting exposure to high temperatures through spending time in air-conditioned spaces and avoiding or restricting time in the sun. Reducing digestion-related heat generation by staying hydrated and eating light, healthy meals is important. Clothing choices, such as wearing a wide-brimmed hat and loose, lightweight clothing, can reduce skin exposure to the sun and promote sweat evaporation. A buddy system can be a way to watch for signs of heat-related illness with others. Finally, checking the weather matters. Pregnant women trust meteorologists and want to hear about how to stay safe during extreme heat from weather forecasts and meteorologists. 

In support of ICCR’s mission to build climate-resilient communities, we are moving forward with our work by developing and testing a Pregnancy and Heat-Health media toolkit.    

Overnight Convective Hazards

Nocturnal tornadoes, flash floods, and severe thunderstorm winds pose a disproportionate threat in the Southeast, where people are more vulnerable while asleep and traditional warning pathways are less effective. This NOAA-funded project aims to understand why nighttime hazards lead to higher fatality odds and how to improve the public’s ability to receive, interpret, and act on warnings after dark. 

Our hazard-climatology analysis shows that tornadoes and nighttime events are significantly more likely to result in harm across Tennessee, underscoring the elevated danger of nocturnal tornadoes in particular, while impacts from other convective hazards, such as nontornadic winds and flash flooding, do not substantially increase at night. In parallel, our survey of more than 1,000 adults across the Southeast reveals that nocturnal risk perception—how likely, severe, and emotionally concerning people believe nighttime hazards to be—strongly influences warning behavior. Individuals with higher nocturnal risk perception are more likely to seek out multiple warning sources, and those multiple sources in turn increase confidence in receiving and responding to overnight alerts. Together, these findings show how both objective risk and perceived risk vary from day to night in ways that shape protective action-seeking and ultimately impact outcomes. Ongoing work focuses on communication pathways and practical strategies to strengthen overnight warning reception, supporting ICCR’s mission to build climate-resilient communities by reducing disproportionate nighttime hazard risk. 

Flood Impacts on Farm Soil and Water

Flooding poses an outsized challenge for rural Appalachian communities, where surface waters are widely used for irrigation and recovery resources can be limited following extreme events. After major floods, producers are often left navigating urgent uncertainties about soil safety, water quality, and the long-term impacts of flood deposits on their land. After extreme flooding events, such as those caused by Hurricane Helene, farmers are often left with urgent questions: Is my soil still safe to use? Can I irrigate from nearby streams? What do flood deposits mean for future crops? This project aims to provide clear, science-based answers to those questions, helping communities make informed decisions during recovery and beyond.

Led by Eminé Fidan and in partnership with UTK scientists, Extension agents, students, and local producers, this project combines field sampling of flooded fields, soils, sediments, and nearby streams with close collaboration with affected communities. Early results show that flood impacts are highly uneven across the landscape: fields only short distances apart can experience very different conditions depending on upstream land use and flood pathways. These findings highlight why one-size-fits-all guidance is often insufficient after flooding and why place-based information is critical. Ongoing work emphasizes sharing results back with farmers and Extension partners in clear, usable formats to inform decisions about irrigation, soil management, and recovery timing. By pairing environmental data with local knowledge, this project supports ICCR’s mission to build climate-resilient communities through science that is responsive, practical, and grounded in community needs.

Gravel Tree Stormwater Systems: Affordable Green Infrastructure for Underserved Communities

Jon Hathaway, PhD, PE
Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Tennessee, Knoxville
In partnership with the Tennessee Water Resources Research Center, Socially Equal Energy Efficient Development (SEEED), and the City of Knoxville

Flooding, extreme heat, and aging stormwater infrastructure pose growing challenges for cities across Appalachia—especially in historically underserved neighborhoods where green space and tree canopy are limited. This project, led by Jon Hathaway, focuses on developing and deploying Gravel Tree Stormwater Systems (GTSS): a low-cost, tree-centric alternative to traditional rain gardens that delivers comparable stormwater benefits at a fraction of the cost. 

Traditional green infrastructure often relies on specialized engineered soils, making installation prohibitively expensive for many communities. GTSS replaces most of that soil with gravel, leaving a small planting zone for a tree whose roots draw water from the surrounding stone, similar to growth patterns along rocky riverbeds. Early results indicate that GTSS can achieve similar hydrological performance to conventional rain gardens at roughly one-third the cost, expanding access to effective stormwater management in resource-constrained settings. 

Supported by a five-year, $2.6 million grant from the U.S. Forest Service, the project prioritizes installations in underserved areas of Knoxville, with particular attention to schoolyards and publicly owned land. Site selection integrates hydrologic analysis, field assessment, and coordination with local partners to ensure systems are both technically effective and context-appropriate. 

Beyond infrastructure, the project emphasizes community impact and workforce development. Construction of initial GTSS installations has been led by SEEED’s Green Construction Program, which provides paid, hands-on training in sustainable construction for young adults in Knoxville. The project also supports K–12 education and community training focused on urban hydrology, tree care, and green infrastructure maintenance. 

As system performance continues to be evaluated, the team plans to release GTSS designs freely online, enabling engineers, planners, and communities across Tennessee and beyond to adopt low-cost, effective green infrastructure solutions. By pairing applied environmental science with community partnership and workforce development, this project advances ICCR’s mission to build climate-resilient communities through practical, scalable, and equitable approaches.