Miguel Velez-Rubio
University of Puerto Rico, PR·Engineering
Coastal communities in the Caribbean face growing risks from major hurricanes, erosion and climate change. Recovery and adaptation depend on reliable data, strong infrastructure, clean energy and sound policy, as well as local jobs and businesses that can build these things.
- Fields
Engineering
Earth & Environmental Science
- Topics
coastal resilience
climate change
hurricanes
- Grants
- 1 known grant, last ended Oct 2026
What they work on
- Collect robust data on major hurricanes, climate change and related variables to better understand coastal vulnerability across Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands and Florida.
- Develop new designs to reduce coastal erosion and increase biodiversity through networks of academic, industry and government partners.
- Advance renewable and sustainable energy technologies, including microgrids (small local power networks), the renewable energy-water nexus, and data-driven system integration.
- Build a regional workforce using micro-credentials in renewable energy, sustainable manufacturing and federal contracting, and train first responders.
- Turn research results into startups and connect them with early-stage investors, along with policies that support coastal resiliency.
More about the research
This project asks how one region can become more resilient while also building an economy around climate-related technology.
Why it matters
Coastal residents and communities in Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands and Florida could gain from better data on hurricanes and climate threats, new designs against coastal erosion, and more resilient energy through microgrids and renewable systems. The project could also inform resiliency policy. It aims to create local jobs, trained workers, first responders and startups built on climate-related technology.
Known grants
From NIH and NSF research grants. Labs often have other funding we can't see.
Closest labs
Richard Nader
University of the Virgin Islands, VI·Earth & Environmental Science
Establish roles at the University of the Virgin Islands that build community and industry relationships and address environmental legacies left by past industrial activity.
Andrew Kliskey
University of Idaho, ID·Earth & Environmental Science
Characterize and evaluate energy-water system configurations in Idaho's Snake River Basin, including storage, efficiency, conservation and governance, across a range of resilience strategies.
Ying Huang
North Dakota State University, ND·Engineering
Identify key risks to North Dakota's energy systems from extreme weather and cyber threats, and assess statewide research capacity and gaps, through capacity assessments and scenario development.
The school
University of Puerto Rico: 1 labs on PI Pages.
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