S25 GIRS Seminars- Resilience Quantification: State of Science and Practice

When: Thursday, May 15, 2025
Time: 1:00pm PT
Where: (In-Person) UCLA Engineering 6 BLDG, Rm 580B

Igor Linkov, PhD

Abstract: The increasing frequency and severity of natural and human-made disasters require a consistent and evidence-based approach to measuring resilience. There is no academic consensus on methods of resilience quantification and applications are fragmented across federal agencies, creating challenges in coordinating responses and evaluating the effectiveness of resilience-building initiatives. This presentation will summarize the state of science and practice in developing standardized resilience metrics and models that can be applied across multiple federal agencies to improve coordinated climate change preparedness, response, and recovery at a national level.

Short Bio: Dr. Igor Linkov is Senior Science and Technology Manager with the US Army Engineer Research and Development Center (ERDC), and Adjunct Professor with University of Florida and Carnegie Mellon University. He is responsible for ERDC’s project portfolio in the areas of crises mitigation and resilience.  He develops methods and tools for measuring resilience in interconnected networks and applies these tools to the environment, critical infrastructure, transportation, energy and cyber systems, supply chains as well as command and control systems.   He is Army representative at the National Nanotechnology Initiative (NNI) and Networking and Information Technology Research and Development (NITRD) Program as well as several White House committees developing the National Resilience Strategy and other resilience-focused guidance documents. He has published widely on environmental and technology policy, climate change, and risk and resilience analytics, including twenty eight books and over 500 peer-reviewed papers and book chapters in top journals, like Nature, Nature Nanotechnology, Nature Climate Change, among others.  Dr. Linkov is Elected Fellow with the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) and Society for Risk Analysis. Dr. Linkov has received multiple USACE, Army and DOD Awards and Civilian Service medals, including the highest Civilian Award in the US Army and 2023 Army’s Humanitarian Assistance Medal, as well 2020 DOD Top Scientist Award. He received multiple awards from the Society for Risk Analysis (SRA), 2022 Edgeworth-Pareto Award from the International Society for Multi Criteria Decision Making (MCDM), 2022 IDRiM Distinguished Research Award, and 2021 Arthur Flemming Award for outstanding public service.