5 Feb 2026

Upscaling Nature-Based Solutions for Reducing Risk from Natural Hazards: From Process to Practice

Abstract: Nature-based solutions (NbS) offer an innovative approach to reducing risks from natural hazards, aligning ecological processes with engineering objectives. However, successfully scaling NbS from site-specific interventions to systems-level applications remains a challenge. This paper examines an Engineering With Nature® (EWN®) case study to explore how NbS can be integrated into broader, systems-based engineering practices, demonstrating the transition from conceptual design to wide-scale, regional implementation. One such case study is Deer Island, located off the coast of Mississippi, USA, where EWN approaches stabilized shorelines and restored critical habitats. The project utilized natural sediment transport processes to rebuild marsh and dune systems, enhancing the island’s resilience to storm surges and erosion. Through careful integration of natural and engineered systems, Deer Island serves as a model for how NbS can mitigate risks at both local and regional scales, increasing the ability to recover from a natural disaster and overall ecological health. In particular, the case study highlights the benefit of designing for multiple integrated ecosystem components to deliver a diverse array of ecological functions, goods, and services. The paper further underscores the importance of interdisciplinary collaboration, highlighting the role of landscape architects in creating multifunctional designs that incorporate natural features and processes. These designs enhance ecosystem services while addressing societal needs, providing a blueprint for how when combined landscape architecture, science, and engineering can synergize in NbS projects. By synthesizing lessons from the EWN and emphasizing the need for cross-sector collaboration, this paper outlines pathways to scale NbS from localized efforts to comprehensive strategies that reduce coastal storm risk.

3 Feb 2026

A Systematic Review of Literature Utilizing Residential Smart Meter Data

Abstract: The global transition from traditional to advanced metering infrastructure (AMI) has led to an exponential increase in residential electricity consumption data collected through smart meters. Research themes and methodologies developed to analyze these data are driven largely by characteristics of smart meter datasets, such as the temporal resolution of data, the spatial and temporal extent of the dataset, and number of households included. However, these trends in the smart meter literature have not been comprehensively reviewed. Here, we present a systematic review of 268 studies analyzing smart meter data, published up to May 1, 2024, using the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) framework. Our findings reveal that cur-rent research is heavily reliant on a few open datasets, predominantly from high-income countries (e.g., the Customer Behavior Trials in Ireland and Low Carbon London in the UK), with approximately 90 % of studies utilizing data from developed countries. Although existing research highlights the potential of smart meter data to support a more sustainable and reliable electricity grid, especially in the face of rising demand and climate change, limited access to diverse data sources has constrained the inclusion of different geographic, climatic, and cultural contexts. Broader access to smart meter datasets is essential to expand research scope and generate insights applicable across different geographic and socio-economic settings; however, wider access also needs to be accompanied by well-designed privacy protections.

30 Jan 2026

Estimating Component Probability of Failure at USACE Civil Works Facilities for Asset Management

Abstract: Infrastructure components are the building blocks of US Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) facilities such as navigation locks and dams. Estimates of component probability of failure are needed to support risk-informed decisions about managing and maintaining these systems and their components. At Inland Navigation (INAV) facilities, the models and methods currently in use are based on an expert elicitation. There is a need for more objective estimates of component probability of failure derived from data using statistical models and methods. This report demonstrates these models and methods and describes what kinds of data would be needed to put them into practice. The major impediment to putting these models and methods into practice is a lack of data on the age, performance, and other characteristics of in-service components. It will take time to develop these data. In the meantime, this report describes how these statistical methods and models can be adapted for use with operational condition assessment (OCA) ratings, which USACE maintains in an existing database at the enterprise scale. Finally, this report describes an analytical approach to criticality assessment, which is a systematic process for identifying which components, if failed, would lead to significant operational disruptions.

22 Jan 2026

Guideposts and Guardrails for Biodiversity Accounting in the 21st Century

Abstract: The new Kunming-Montreal Post-2020 Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF) calls for transformative change to integrate biodiversity and conservation goals into decision-making across public and private sectors. As a result, biodiversity accounting approaches, which reduce the multifaceted complexity of nature to quantitative metrics for practical applications, are proliferating rapidly. These approaches will be essential for implementing growing practices like nature-based solutions, corporate biodiversity stewardship, no net loss policies, and sustainable infrastructure development. In this perspectives article, we identify ten considerations for biodiversity accounting to ground ongoing discourse in sound ecological science and to better integrate biodiversity into societal decision-making. These considerations pertain to three processes within biodiversity accounting: (1) selecting biodiversity targets, facets, indicators, and metrics, (2) tool and framework design, and (3) implementation. For each consideration, we highlight desirable attributes or practices, which we call “guideposts”, and cautionary notes demarcating problems to be avoided, or “guardrails”. These help to delineate the safe design space for creators and users of biodiversity accounting systems to avoid unintended consequences and reduce risks of failing to achieve conservation objectives via misuse or ineffective approaches. Major considerations include the need for careful disclosure of effort and statistical uncertainty, interoperability and flexibility of frameworks, careful justification and explanation of selected facets, metrics, and indicators, and attention to local social and ecological context. Consideration of these guideposts and guardrails could help avoid unintended consequences like accelerated biodiversity loss and exacerbated environmental injustice while providing a practical basis for achieving the sustainable futures envisioned in the GBF.

22 Jan 2026

Assessing Longer-Term Effectiveness of Forest Management Guidelines on Breeding Habitat for Cerulean Warblers

Abstract: Widespread clear-cutting in the late 19th and early 20th centuries and subsequent regrowth has resulted in homogenous, closed-canopy forest structure across much of eastern deciduous forests in temperate North America. Forest management prescriptions designed to diversify stand structure have been increasingly applied with the goal of improving breeding habitat for declining species that require heterogenous forest structure, including Cerulean Warblers (“ceruleans”; Setophaga cerulea). Although a few studies have documented positive short-term (1–4 years post-treatment) responses of ceruleans to forest management prescriptions in the Appalachian Mountains region, longer-term responses have yet to be assessed. In 2019–2020, we followed the same spot-mapping methods as used previously (2005–2006 pre-harvest and 2007–2010 post-harvest) and compared territory density with previous estimates at each of 4 treatment levels (reduced basal area and overstory canopy by 0–75 %) across four forest stands on study sites in Tennessee, Kentucky and Ohio (n = 12 stands total) that had exhibited short-term positive density responses. Ceruleans did not exhibit consistently positive longer-term responses compared with pre-treatment densities when all stands were analyzed together. Compared with pre- treatment surveys, after 13–14 years post-harvest we documented density decreases of 1.0–3.1 territories per 10 ha at 5/9 stands, and positive responses of 1.8–2.2 territories per 10 ha at 3/9 treated stands. Over this period, midstory cover changed significantly (increased) during the 10 years since these stands were last surveyed. Thus, sustaining the short-term (1–4 year) positive response of cerulean warbler territory density to timber harvest may require periodic follow-up treatments that reduce the development of a dense midstory; we recommend that this hypothesis, along with the methods to achieve these conditions, should be tested.

22 Jan 2026

Exopolysaccharides from Rhizobium Tropici Modified the Surface Characteristics of a Mississippi River Levee Soil Clay and its Bulk Soil Properties

Abstract: Global climate change has led to the increased frequency of extreme flooding events and heightened the vulnerability of river levees to flood related damage. One promising approach to enhancing the sustainability of levee stabilization is the use of eco-friendly, biologically produced soil additives as alternatives to conventional materials for erosion control. This study investigates the effects of exopolysaccharides (EPS) produced by Rhizobium tropici on the physical and engineering properties of clayey soil from a Mississippi River levee. Specifically, the study examines how EPS affects particle size, surface charge, surface area, and key bulk soil properties, including Atterberg limits, compaction behavior, and hydraulic conductivity. Soil samples were collected from a levee embankment located in south of Vidalia LA, an area historically prone to slough slides due to highly plastic nature of its floodplain clay soils. X-ray Power Diffraction was used to characterize the mineralogy of soil clay, EPS and EPS-clay composites. Particle size distribution and Zeta potentials measurements were performed on EPS and EPS-amended clays. Engineering test included Atterberg limit determinations (liquid and plastic limits) and standard compaction tests. The addition of EPS significantly increased the aggregate particle sizes of the levee clay through formation of EPS-clay composites. A strong correlation was observed between mean particle sizes and zeta potential in the composites. EPS also increased the liquid limit and plasticity of the soil while significantly reducing its hydraulic conductivity. Overall, EPS-amended soil demonstrated improved resistance to seepage and erosion, indicating that EPS has the potential to enhance levee soil stability and contribute to more sustainable flood control infrastructure.

21 Jan 2026

Supporting Urban Sustainability Through Resilient Rail Transit Systems

Abstract: Urban rail transit is vital to supporting urban sustainability across environmental, economic, and social pillars. However, recent extreme weather events, particular flooding, have increasingly disrupted its operations, high-lighting the urgent need to strengthen system resilience. Developing comprehensive resilience assessment methods with results of practical relevance is essential for evaluating the system’s capacity to withstand and recover from such disruptions, using quantifiable impacts across physical, operational, social, and economic dimensions. While resilience and sustainability are often discussed together in the context of climate change, methodologies for integrating sustainability considerations into resilience assessments to develop informed adaptation strategies remain underdeveloped. Drawing on the UN Sustainable Development Goals, this commentary examines the relationship between resilience and sustainability in the urban rail transit sector under disruptions related to natural disasters and climate change. Following this, it proposes a three-tier network modelling roadmap for assessing the resilience of urban rail transit, illustrating how sustainability concerns can be incorporated into resilience planning. This roadmap progresses from current mainstream topology-based approaches to a state-of-the-art performance-oriented method, and ultimately to a forward-looking vision that integrates socio-demographic considerations and prioritises equity. Positioned at the infrastructure-disaster- society nexus, this commentary advocates embedding a systemic view in transport network modelling to yield actionable resilience strategies that address extreme weather events while promoting urban sustainability.

8 Dec 2025

Assessing Fish-Passage Rates

Abstract: Riverine fragmentation by dams, culverts, and other barriers has led to the precipitous decline of migratory fishes nationwide. Accordingly, fish-passage restoration has emerged as a significant issue for resource agencies, restoration professionals, and fisheries managers. This special report addresses the key scientific challenge of measuring fish-passage rates before and after restoration. A variety of techniques for both forecasting (preproject) and monitoring (postproject) fish-passage rates are reviewed. A set of guiding questions are presented to help practitioners select a method appropriate to their site, resources, and time line. Four case studies are then presented to demonstrate a subset of these methods in practice: fish community movement through floodgate structures in Missouri, movement patterns through river restoration structures in Colorado, fish movement around a low-head weir in Mississippi, and watershed-wide passability estimation using professional judgment in Nevada. These projects represent a range of conditions and are intended to provide practitioners with real-world examples to use as models for their own studies.

8 Dec 2025

Modeling Tools for Proactive Ecosystem Restoration and Assisted Migration Planning: A State of the Science Review and Synthesis

Abstract: Decision-support modeling tools are needed to help aquatic ecosystem restoration (AER) planners understand how habitat footprints and species distributions will change in response to future changing conditions. Specifically, environmental projections and predictive model outputs that inform proactive AER planning and investments. This report provides a literature synthesis of resources and tools to create such a decision support tool. Select models identified were evaluated for applicability to AER planning using prediction confidence, user-friendliness, and suitability. This uncovered several existing, primarily terrestrially, predictive models that could be adapted to inform proactive AER planning efforts. Research efforts are still needed to fill gaps for aquatic data to train and validate predictive models, refine key drivers, and build and pilot aquatic-focused tools. Future condition vulnerability screening tools could be used to identify which proposed AER project sites are best suited for proactive AER measures, such as assisted migration, and determine if investments in more rigorous, spatially explicit, or species-specific models are needed. Species-specific assessments of habitat suitability changes and adaptive capacity can then inform restoration targets and enable end-users to achieve AER planning objectives. Such a decision support tool would improve planner ability to restore key aquatic habitats resilient to future conditions.

24 Nov 2025

3D Printing Natural Materials for Nature-Inspired Infrastructure— A Beneficial Use Opportunity: Collaborative Research Workshop Synthesis

Abstract: Natural infrastructure—crucial for coastal resilience, flood risk management, and ecosystem services—confronts escalating challenges from rising seas, erosion, storms, and human impacts. Innovative approaches are needed to enhance infrastructure functionality and broaden social, economic, and environmental benefits. Traditional manufacturing constrains engineering creativity required for nature-inspired infrastructure (NII). Additive manufacturing, or 3D printing (3DP), could revolutionize the design and functionality of NII. However, existing capability gaps hinder the effective transition of these technologies from conceptualization to implementation. Our workshop explored NII-3DP structures using natural materials, aligning with Engineering With Nature® (EWN®) principles and US Army Corps of Engineers infrastructure goals. Discussion included engineering solutions to provide social, recreational, environmental, and economic benefits, including flood risk reduction, wave energy dissipation, nutrient sequestration, and habitat enhancement. The participants sought to understand material selection and optimize morphologies to ensure the successful biocompatibility of nature-based habitats. By using locally sourced, biocompatible materials and drawing inspiration from nature, these technologies offer a means to enhance habitat function and improve aesthetics for communities. A timely opportunity exists to reshape the perception of locally available materials, such as sediment, by presenting dredged material as an environmentally and economically beneficial use asset and resource for 3DP feedstocks.