PRESS
AMERICAN GEOPHYSICAL UNION 2022
December 12, 2022
Pluvial flooding, over-saturated ground, and drainage systems disproportionately impact historically marginalized urban neighborhoods during extreme rainfall events. These communities are impacted by physical and socioeconomic factors that make them vulnerable to flooding events, such as high concentrations of impervious landcover, high precipitation rates, and a combined sewer system framework. Despite known vulnerability to environmental hazards, understanding potential pluvial street-level flooding events are largely unknown. Using the open-source National Capital Project’s Integrated Valuation of Ecosystem Services and Tradeoffs (InVEST) Urban Flood Risk Mitigation model, NASA DEVELOP examined neighborhood scale runoff retention and potential economic damages for risk mapping throughout Kansas City, Kansas. The generated outputs aid in identifying vulnerable neighborhoods susceptible to flooding and in need of future intervention. Previous studies have applied this model framework to understand urban flood vulnerability regarding ecosystem services, urban planning, and flood mitigation strategies. We utilized the InVEST outputs to develop indices pertaining to environmental justice factors of race, socioeconomic status, social vulnerability, and health. The findings indicate that historically redlined neighborhoods in Kansas City, Kansas face disproportional impacts from flood events and are subject to greater environmental stressors. This research provides an approach to utilizing an open-source flood vulnerability model to empower neighborhood-scale environmental justice analysis, enhancing the local communities' understanding of present-day impacts of historical environmental injustices.
AMERICAN GEOPHYSICAL UNION 2021
December 13, 2021
Many of us use google street view to explore our favorite cities, hometowns, and even far away places we have never been, but did you ever think it can be useful to assess flood risk?
Come check out Raychell Velez at AGU to learn more about this work co-led with Diana Calderon, Lauren Carey, WEDG, including how they integrated the Mechanical Turk (MTurk) interface!
with, Carolynne Hultquist, Robert Chen, Yuri Gorokhovich, Greg Yetman, Chris Aime #agu21 CIESIN, Columbia Climate School International Research Institute for Climate and Society, Earth Institute, Columbia University The City University of New York
AMERIGEO WEEK
September 3, 2021
Happy #STEMFriday! We’re #LehmanProud of the alumni and grad students from Lehman’s Geographic Information Sciences program pictured here: Christopher Aime, Diana Calderon ’21, Lauren Carey, and Raychell Velez ’21.
Working with scientists from Columbia University’s Center for International Earth Science Information Network, they’ve been developing tools to advance the collection and mapping of data that could help identify areas susceptible to flooding and improve event monitoring systems. It’s important work—and, after the extreme weather and deadly floods we saw in New York and New Jersey this week, it’s work we’re all interested in.
Along with Lehman professor Yuri Gorokhovich, the group co-authored a paper about one promising approach: using Google Street View to collect data on street-level flood vulnerability, with Quito, Ecuador, serving as a case study. In August, they presented it at Data-driven Humanitarian Mapping, a high-profile conference sponsored by MIT, and AmeriGeo Week, an initiative promoting collaboration and coordination among geographic information sciences researchers in the Americas. Keep up the good work, you four! We need it!
STEM THURSDAY AT LEHMAN COLLEGE
June 24, 2021
It's #Stemthursday! Read #LehmanGrad2021 Raychell Velez's story below—it's a testament to how Lehman faculty and alumni are helping to encourage the next generation of scientists.
“I graduated with a master’s in Geographic Information Systems (GIS), a computer technology field that incorporates mapping and spatial data analysis. I’d gotten my B.A. at Lehman in 2018, and when I was considering grad school, I discovered how versatile GIS is; it can be used in a range of disciplines, including public health. I took a class with Professor Yuri Gorokhovich that helped me broaden my focus to include natural hazards, specifically earthquakes and floods we’re susceptible to in New York. My ultimate goal is to work within a government agency such as FEMA to create tools that can better model and analyze data about natural hazards and climate change.
This spring, I was part of a team of Lehman students who interned at Columbia University’s Center for International Earth Science Information Network and International Research Institute for Climate and Society (IRI) to develop high-resolution data on flood vulnerability using AI hazard modeling. I got to present my research at an IRI seminar, which was a great opportunity to expand my professional network.
My passion for STEM started in high school. I graduated from Bronx Center for Science and Mathematics in the South Bronx, where I was mentored by Lehman biology professors Joseph Rachlin and Jack Henning. Now, I teach science research and computer science there. I’m committed to inspiring the next generation to find their love for science.
Though the journey to getting my two degrees wasn’t easy, the obstacles I faced helped me grow into someone who can tackle anything that comes her way. If Lehman has taught me anything, it has definitely been to keep pushing through because the light at the end of the tunnel is closer than you think.”