Recent Updates

For those living near big polluters in hurricanes’ paths, the real disaster may unfold after the rains and winds subside, as chemicals potentially released and spread by the event adversely impact surrounding areas. Use our recent interactive maps for Hurricanes Francine, Helene and Milton to find where respective storms raise concerns about the flooding of facilities working with chemicals known to be hazardous to public health. Read more about these concerns in our recent piece in the Conversation.

Featured Research

Find out if a hazardous polluter near you is flood-prone here. The flooding of Coastal Industrial Communities presents serious challenges for the short- and long-term environmental health and safety of nearby residents. In this featured research we review those challenges and provide an interactive map for assessing site-specific risks in and around your neighborhood.

Mission

The mission of the Center for Coastal Futures & Adaptive Resilience (CFAR) is to advance transformative, social scientific research that empowers coastal communities confronting the twin challenges of climate change and social inequality. Based in Rice’s School of Social Sciences, CFAR integrates the diverse methodological expertise of allied fields, faculty and partners to empower adaptive resilience that cannot be achieved through individual effort or technological innovation alone. Launched in 2024, we pursue this mission through research relevant to Houston, the Gulf region, and coastal areas worldwide. Current foci include: Coastal Industrial Communities; Urban Infrastructure Futures; Climate Adaptation; and, Disaster Recovery & Resilience.

Vision

We recognize that the expanding array of disciplines and practices now invoking resilience can sow confusion in ways that protect the status quo. We also believe that alternative forms of resilience are possible – ones that empower meaningful change in how resilience is advanced and for whom. In this vein, CFAR strives to develop adaptive resilience based on three core values. (1) Marginalized groups and communities should not have to assume sole responsibility for adapting to the impacts of climate change and countering exclusionary plans to address those impacts. (2) Researchers should help counter such tendencies by increasing institutional capacities to deepen analyses, broaden collaborations, and foster more creative, just solutions as internal and external situations evolve. (3) In this way, adaptive resilience must not simply be a response to climate change but a movement toward new ways of learning, doing, and improving the well-being of all groups and communities facing uncertain coastal futures.