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Eduardo Farfan

Professor of Nuclear Engineering

Nuclear disaster risk assessment, environmental recovery following radiological contamination

• Applies environmental and safety lessons from the Fukushima and Chernobyl nuclear accidents to develop practical approaches for radiological risk assessment, environmental monitoring, and post-accident recovery strategies..

• Investigates the transport, dispersion, and long-term behavior of radionuclides in the environment, evaluating their impacts on ecosystems, infrastructure, and human populations over time.

• Conducted radiation monitoring and environmental measurements within the Chernobyl exclusion zone, analyzing contamination levels and contributing to the understanding of long-term radiological and ecological consequences of the disaster.

Dan Ferreira

Assistant Chair of the Department of Ecology, Evolution and Organismal Biology

Soil science, soil health

• Conducted research on soil contamination in Fukushima from 2015 to 2025.

• Met local farmers in Fukushima, adding urgency to his research into the removal of radioactive cesium from the contaminated soil in the region.

• Leads a study abroad program to Japan, which includes taking ʳɫÊÓƵ students to Fukushima to learn about the nuclear disaster and meet some of the farmers impacted by it.

Da Hu

Assistant Professor of Engineering in Smart Infrastructure

Disaster damage assessment and recovery

• Focuses on disaster response and infrastructure resilience, with an emphasis on post-disaster damage assessment and situational awareness.

• Uses drone imagery to reduce the time needed to detect and categorize the extent of damage to buildings after disasters.

• Develops data-driven approaches to support rapid decision-making and recovery in disasters such as earthquakes, hurricanes, and large-scale infrastructure failures.

Alex Sich

Senior Lecturer of Physics

Nuclear safety, radiation

• Was the first Westerner permitted to live and conduct research within the Chernobyl exclusion zone.

• Investigated post-disaster events at Chernobyl’s Unit 4 and challenged the false account given by the Soviets.

• Served as the Department of Energy’s representative on nuclear safety in Ukraine and as a project coordinator on an international consortium that oversaw the decommissioning of Unit 4.