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Research grants awarded

Aerial photo of a winding bayou, the left side lined with a single street of homes surrounded by sparse wetlands stretched out into the horizon.
Aerial view of Bayou Petite Caillou in Terrebonne Parish, Louisiana. Photo by Nick LiCausi/TuSA.

FEBRUARY 12, 2025
BY NICK POCHé

The Center on Climate Change and Urbanism (CCU) at Tulane School of Architecture is pleased to announce the inaugural recipients of the Faculty and Student Research Grants for academic year 2024-2025.

These grants, intended to catalyze new lines of research and pedagogy that lead to future peer-review publication, support research projects by faculty and students focused broadly on the built environment’s role in causing, mitigating, and adapting to climate change.

The grant review committee consisted of CCU’s leadership team, Professors Jesse M. Keenan, Adam Marcus, and Catherine Sckerl. Awarded projects in this round range in diverse content from the impacts of climate change on heritage conservation to innovative biomaterials research to climate adaptation strategies for vulnerable communities. The work is global in reach, including one project focused on the Indian Ocean region and three research projects sited in communities in Latin America. Grant recipients will present their research findings over the next calendar year at a series of public lunchtime talks.

2024-2025 CCU Faculty Research Grant Recipients:

Graphic composite of most endangered places to represent research by Fallon Aidoo.

Professor Fallon Samuels Aidoo, Ph.D.
Behind the Numbers of America’s “Most Endangered Places”: Artificial Intelligence and Actionable Insights into Coastal Heritage Protection

Robot arm representing research by faculty Mostafa Akbari.

Professor Mostafa Akbari, Ph.D.
Bio-Based Composite Shell Structures

Map of a region to represent research by Andrea Bardon de Tena.

Professor Andrea Bardon de Tena
Q'eqchi' Rural Area: Vulnerability in Indigenous Informal Settlements

Watery marsh field to represent research work by Liz Camuti.

Professor Liz Camuti
Under the Weight of Water: Evaluating the Impacts of National Climate Adaptation Plans on Rice Cultivation Practices Across the Americas

Composite of two photos of waterfront urban areas to represent research work by Aarthi Janakiraman.

Professor Aarthi Janakiraman, Ph.D.
Coastal World Heritage and Climate Change: Conservation as Adaptation?

2024-2025 CCU Student Research Grant Recipients:

Abbas Ghaffari
M.Arch - Exploring Mycelium-Based Bio-composites for Sustainable Architectural Applications in Coastal Regions of the Southeastern U.S.

Graphic showing material creation process to represent research project by Abbas Ghaffari.

Abbas Ghaffari
M.Arch - Exploring Mycelium-Based Bio-composites for Sustainable Architectural Applications in Coastal Regions of the Southeastern U.S.

River map composite graphic representing research project by Leandra Goytizolo and Charlotte Love.

Leandra Goytizolo and Charlotte Love
B.Arch Thesis - FCAT and Ecuador

Coastal map graphic representing research project by Sophia Lindahl and Kayleigh Macumber Coastal Retreat in Chesapeake Bay.

Sophia Lindahl and Kayleigh Macumber

B.Arch Thesis - Coastal Retreat in Chesapeake Bay

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