Cohort 4 Awarded Proposals

We are pleased to welcome the fourth cohort of the EdEC Faculty Innovator Program. The 2026-2028 cohort includes five faculty from geography, engineering and data science backgrounds. Awardees represent faculty from all career stages, who will collaborate with NSF NCAR to address a range of timely topics related to infrastructure resilience and applications of AI/ML.

Nasrin Alamdari - Integrating High-Resolution Atmospheric and Hydrologic Forecasts into AI-Driven Statewide Harmful Algal Bloom Early Warning Systems 

John Y. Choe - ACE-FIRES: AI- and Co-production–Enabled Fire Intelligence for Resource-Efficient Suppression 

Michael Craig - Bridging Climate Science and Energy Systems to Enhance Power System Reliability and Resilience 

Carol Friedland - Enhancing National Resilience through National Water Model (NWM) Analysis and the ASCE 24 National Technical Flood Standard 

Beth Tellman - AI-Driven Assessment of U.S. Inland Flood Inundation at High Resolution across the 21st Century

Institutional affiliations of faculty across all cohorts. Cohort 4 faculty are noted in light blue.

Cohort Selection

The program invited applications from faculty to participate in the Innovator Ideas Lab as a first step in being considered for the 2026-2028 cohort. The Ideas Lab was an interactive two-day event in Boulder, CO promoting proposal co-development with NSF NCAR researchers starting from the ideation phase. Ideas Lab participants engaged in facilitated sessions to workshop and co-develop creative research proposal ideas.The main outcomes of the workshop included the formation of research teams and drafting of letters of intent (LOIs). LOIs were reviewed by Innovator leadership and the Core Science Team, and a subset of LOIs were invited to submit research proposals. Submitted proposals were evaluated for funding, with a focus on innovation, feasibility, and alignment with program goals. Proposals identified skills, technology and methodology needs for actionable, translational (i.e., research to applications) or convergence science research at NSF NCAR in support of resilience from Earth system hazards aligned with NSF NCAR’s strategic plan.