Global Flood Resilience Program in
Galveston, Texas
With new support from the National Science Foundation (NSF), IDRT is launching a new IRES program — the Global Flood Resilience Program (GFRP) — designed to give U.S. students immersive international research experiences focused on flood resilience.
Each year, students will either travel to South Korea or collaborate with visiting Korean students in Texas, conducting case study research in a highly interactive, cross-cultural learning environment. A key addition to this new IRES program is I-REverSe — a component that offers students the opportunity to gain international research experience without traveling abroad, by engaging directly with international peers in Texas.
This program expands our global partnerships and allows us to apply and evaluate the flood resilience framework we previously developed with Dutch collaborators, now in new contexts. GFRP not only advances international research but also enables students to address complex, transdisciplinary flood challenges at home and abroad.
SPONSOR: National Science Foundation
PROGRAM DIRECTOR: Yoonjeong Lee
PI: Yoonjeong Lee
CO-PIs: Samuel Brody, Jens Figlus
This program takes place at the Texas A&M University at Galveston campus.
If you are interested in applying for the program that includes a research trip to Korea, visit the IRES in Korea application page. Applicants may apply for both programs but can only enroll in one if accepted to both.
2026 I-REverSe in Texas Program Details:
APPLICATION IS OPEN
NSF I-REverSe Global Flood Resilience Program in Texas – Convergent research experiences to increase resilience in flood-prone communities
Conducting problem- and place-based case study research in collaboration with Korean students and experts visiting Texas A&M at Galveston: April 20–May 31, 2026
The NSF-funded IRES GFRP offers fully funded research opportunities for both undergraduate and graduate students from Texas A&M University in College Station and Texas A&M University at Galveston. From April 20 to May 31, 2026, participating students will engage in flood resilience research in collaboration with Korean experts and students visiting Texas A&M at Galveston*.
This opportunity allows students to enhance and expand their educational and research experience through immersive research activities and interactions with visiting international students and researchers without traveling abroad. The program provides lectures and seminars focused on flood resilience in Texas and Korea, while participating students conduct place-based case studies. Students can either compare Texas (the Upper Texas coast and Houston-Galveston metropolitan area) with Korea (the Southeastern and Busan Metropolitan area) or investigate the applicability of flood mitigation measures from one place to another.
We encourage students from a wide range of disciplines — including engineering, planning, economics, hydrology, biology, architecture, ecology, geology, computational hydraulics, and more — who are interested in flood resilience and its global dimensions to apply. This program offers a unique opportunity to engage in interdisciplinary research with participants from diverse academic backgrounds and levels, fostering teamwork and leadership skills beyond the classroom.
Applicants may choose one of the focus areas below for case study research in the Upper Texas Coast and Houston-Galveston metropolitan area, with relevant issues/topics (Table 1) and research question(s) provided. Alternatively, applicants can propose their own research question or select a different focus area within the designated study area. Case study research in Texas may be conducted individually or in groups. For group projects, one Letter of Intent (LOI) should be submitted along with each applicant’s application form.
The completed application package, in PDF format, should be submitted by November 30, 2025, to idrt-gfrp@tamu.edu. Use the subject line “TEXAS IRES Application_[Your Full Name].”
*Important Notes
- This funding opportunity is available only to U.S. citizens and permanent residents.
- Funding covers a weekly stipend of $600 for six weeks.
- Participation in the program requires a daily commute (Monday – Friday) to the Galveston campus for its duration. If this is not feasible, eligibility may be affected.
- If a research proposal requires access to experimental laboratories for chemical or biological experiments, students are fully responsible for obtaining access to the facilities and equipment.
Please take the time to read the descriptions of the Upper Texas coast and Houston-Galveston metropolitan area thoroughly before completing your application.
2026 NSF I-REverSE GFRP in Texas — Focus areas and research topics
The Upper Texas coast and Houston-Galveston metropolitan area
The Houston-Galveston region surrounding Galveston Bay is highly flood-prone and has experienced continual adverse impacts. The region faces increasing flood risk due to its low-lying coastal plain, combined with intensifying storm surge from the Gulf of Mexico, frequent episodes of heavy precipitation, and occasionally a combination of both.
Galveston, a barrier island along the Gulf of Mexico, has a long history of storm impacts, particularly hurricanes. The island is physically vulnerable to high storm surge levels, as evidenced by Hurricane Ike (2008), which inundated a significant portion of the island with water coming in from Galveston Bay. Its diverse socioeconomic characteristics and development patterns make it an ideal location for case study research on flood resilience focused on coastal floods.
Inland flooding, worsened by rapid urbanization, is a major issue within the City of Houston, the most populous city in Texas. In 2017, Hurricane Harvey brought record rainfall to the Texas coast, causing catastrophic damage and underscoring the chronic problem of repetitive flooding that frequently affects metropolitan areas like Houston. For many Houstonians, Hurricane Harvey marked the third time in three years that their homes were flooded.
Finally, the Houston Ship Channel serves as a living laboratory for understanding flood resilience in a heavily industrialized and developed area of national economic importance. The Port of Houston, the largest U.S. importer and exporter of petroleum and related products, highlights the critical need for flood protection in this region.
Students should choose one of the focus areas within the Houston-Galveston metropolitan area, each addressing relevant flood resilience issues and topics for their case study research project. By collaborating with Korean students and researchers, incorporating flood resilience approaches from outside Texas is encouraged.
The focus areas and specific topics are outlined in the table below.
Focus Areas
Examples of Local Issues and Topics
1. Houston Ship Channel/Port of Houston
- Strategies for long-term operations and maintenance of the proposed gate system
- Long-term adaptation strategies (e.g., Sea level rise and increasing river discharge)
- Risk analysis of the critical infrastructure surrounding the Port
- Stakeholder analysis
- Environmental and socio-political issues
2. Galveston Island
- Multifunctional use strategies
- Nature-based engineering solutions
- Morphological change
- Dune development
- Flood protection for historic preservation
- Drainage infrastructure
- GIS-based risk mapping for industrial zones
3. City of Houston
- Urban development/land use plans incorporated into flood risk reduction
- Integration of landscape/building design and hydraulic design
- Social vulnerability
- Subsidence
- Multipurpose flood defenses
- Green Infrastructure
4. Galveston Bay
- Dredging and sedimentation
- Sedimentation management
- Strategies for ecosystem and ecological development
- Balancing ecological values and storm surge protection
- In-bay measures for flood risk reduction
Example Research Questions
- How is flood infrastructure financed, and what are the main financial instruments used to fund both new projects and the upgrading of existing ones?
- How can local and regional stakeholders be properly engaged and represented in the development of a large-scale flood defense structure?
- What concerns have been raised about the proposed Bolivar Gate System, and what additional aspects should be explored to address them?
- What concerns have been raised about the proposed Galveston Ring Barrier System, and how can these concerns be effectively addressed?
- What tools are used to evaluate the viability of flood control projects, and what are they based on?
- How can coastal flood protection be designed for multifunctional purposes (e.g., add recreational, urban and/or ecological functions)?
- Can natural inlet fluctuations (spatial and temporal changes of location and level of opening) and commercial use of natural coastal inlets coexist? How do Texas and South Korea approach this issue?
- How do coastal flood resilience strategies in the upper Texas coast and the Korean Southeastern Coast address sea level rise?
- How are Natural and Nature-Based Features (NNBF) in general and/or vegetated dunes specifically incorporated in coastal planning and management?
- How can NNBF best be implemented in numerical modeling approaches intended to simulate coastal geomorphology changes?
- What are the flood-resilient development strategies in the Houston-Galveston region, and what are the pros and cons of implementing them compared to those of South Korea?
- How can multiple urban flood mitigation techniques work together to effectively reduce flood losses over time?
- What adaptive strategies are implemented in flood-resilient coastal towns to address their growing populations?
- How do dredging methods and dredged material placement practices differ between Texas and South Korea?
- How do social vulnerability factors in the Houston-Galveston region influence the effectiveness of flood mitigation strategies, and what are the implications for marginalized communities?
- How can lessons learned from Busan storm surge protection features be applied to current and future projects in Texas?
- How can concepts of land reclamation (traditional or floating) help shape coastal metropolitan areas of the future?
- What concepts of beneficial use of dredge material (BUDM) exist between Busan and Texas, and how can BUDM be used for flood risk mitigation?
Ready to apply?
Questions about the program or application?
Please email idrt-gfrp@tamu.edu.