The Natural Hazards Engineering Research Infrastructure (NHERI) has been awarded $5 million in funding by the National Science Foundation (NSF) through 2025.

NHERI is a multi-hazards research community focused on mitigating the impact of earthquakes, windstorms, tsunamis, storm surge and other water-related hazards on our nation's civil infrastructure and society. The Network Coordination Office (NCO), physically located at Purdue University, serves as the administrative headquarters for NHERI's nation-wide network of 11 research facilities. Julio Ramirez, Karl H. Kettelhut Professor in Civil Engineering, serves as NHERI-NCO Center Director.

The NCO’s Education and Community Outreach (ECO) team administers the network’s annual Research Experience for Undergraduates (REU) program. The ECO also holds an annual Summer Institute for early career faculty, graduate students, and K-12 educators to learn about NHERI resources and NSF support for natural hazards research.

The Network Independent Advisory Committee offer guidance to the NHERI Council, which is comprised of NHERI site principal investigators.

As well as network governance, the NCO provides many avenues for community participation and encourages researchers to join network-wide committees that make decisions about experimental scheduling, educational activities, user satisfaction, tech transfer, and Science Plan development.

Source: National Science Foundation