Applied Math Faculty & Researchers Visit Mumbai

Applied Mathematics faculty members, Prof. Adam Sobel and Prof. Kyle Mandli, along with Prof. Suzana Camargo, Research Professor at the Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory, and Chia-Ying Lee, Associate Research Scientist in Columbia’s International Research Institute for Climate and Society (IRI), visited Mumbai in January 2016. This trip was part of their project with the President’s Global Innovation Fund (which supports projects at the CU Global Centers), titled “Storm surge risk to Mumbai: a challenge to sustainable urbanization in India’s largest city.”

Sobel said, “We went to Mumbai to get a first hand view of the city’s topography, geography, infrastructure, and culture; and to meet Indian colleagues, exchange ideas, and build the foundation for collaborations. It was an immensely stimulating trip to a vibrant and complex city, highlighted by our one-day workshop organized by the Columbia Global Center. Our research on the risk to Mumbai of a cyclone strike and storm surge has been proceeding well since then, and we intend it to be the jumping off point for a larger research program on catastrophe modeling for disaster risk reduction and climate adaptation.”