About

Garrick Louis is a Professor of Engineering and Society (E&S) and Professor of Systems & Information Engineering (SIE) at the University of Virginia. His research investigates Engineering for the Greater Good (EGG), with an emphasis on access to infrastructure services across different communities. Louis uses mutual benefit approaches to broaden participation in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM) education. His work focuses on building capacity for sustained access to essential human services, especially in marginalized communities, and he defines sustainability as the ability to provide sustained access to services at the required quantity and quality over the required planning horizon at minimal economic, environmental, and social costs to present and future generations.

Research topics

• Computer Science
• Political Science
• Economics
• Environmental health
• Environmental economics
• Geography
• Business
• Ecology
• Economic growth
• Environmental resource management
• Engineering
• Environmental engineering
• Environmental planning

Selected publications

• Diversifying STEM Higher Education through Online Collaborative Instruction: The Case of an Engineering Ethics Course between an MSI and PWI

  2024-02-06 · 1 citations

  articleOpen access

  Our group studies decarbonization of infrastructure systems.At large scales, our work explores the life cycle environmental impacts of the manufacturing, transportation, and energy sectors through projects in next-generation bioenergy, subsurface energy storage, and negative emissions technologies.At the molecular scale, we study the chemistry of CO2 in high pressure environments to support geologic carbon

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Geospatial Analysis of Extreme Temperature Impacts in Agricultural Systems Using Machine Learning

  2024-10-16 · 1 citations

  article

  Recent higher temperatures, observed compared to previous years, have led to more frequent and intense heat waves, adversely affecting agriculture and human health. This paper explores using Inverse Distance Weighting (IDW) and Kriging to develop GIS layers for a heat-based risk index. Recent increases in global mean temperatures have led to more frequent and intense heat waves, impacting food supply, vegetation, and human health. Optimal plant growth temperatures in temperate climates range from 20°C to 30°C, with nighttime temperatures also being critical. Exceeding these temperature ranges can reduce plant immunity, cause disease, and result in poor crop yields. For example, mango cultivars need a "safe" temperature range of 10°C to 12°C to avoid damage. The intensification of higher temperatures established July 2023 record the hottest days on Earth, highlighting the need for effective monitoring and management tools. IDW, a deterministic method, offers a straightforward and efficient approach by assuming closer points have more influence. Kriging, a probabilistic geostatistical technique, accounts for spatial autocorrelation and prediction uncertainty, making it suitable for complex datasets. The study compares these methods' performance in creating continuous surfaces representing heat-based risk. IDW is simple and efficient but less accurate in sparsely populated areas, while Kriging is more accurate and detailed but requires more computational resources and expertise. An automated workflow for data preprocessing, model training, and cross-validation ensures consistent results. The study recommends adopting IDW for initial assessments and transitioning to Kriging as expertise grows. Enhanced data collection on temperature and population density is also advised to improve GIS layer accuracy, aiding better decision-making and resource allocation to mitigate extreme heat effects on agriculture and public health.

  PublisherDOI

• Ethics Case Study Project: Broadening STEM Participation by Normalizing Immersion of Diverse Groups in Peer to Near Peer Collaborations

  2024-04-02

  articleOpen access

  Abstract To successfully broaden the participation of underrepresented racially minoritized (URM) students in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM), students from all demographic groups must routinely work together in STEM as a cohesive community. A Mutual Benefit Approach (MBA) is a way to create longstanding partnerships between members of the community, academia, industry, and government to develop equitable opportunities for students from all demographic groups and zip codes to engage together in STEM. One of the primary objectives for MBA is to provide a continuous series of immersions in deliberately diverse STEM environments for students from K-12 up through the PhD. This will normalize STEM as a diverse experience for students and build their self-efficacy in STEM. URM students will be prepared to navigate the STEM environment in predominantly white institutions (PWIs), and White students will be prepared to engage with URM students in the PWI environment or in the environment of Minority Serving Institutions if they are enrolled there as students. The MBA also hypothesizes that peer to near-peer interactions are critical for students to progress continuously through all the levels of STEM, from K-12 to the PhD and STEM workforce. This paper discusses one example of a "normalizing immersion" – a team-based case study project in Ethics. The teams consisted of African American high school students, African American undergraduate students from a Historically Black College or University, and predominantly White graduate students from PWI university. Student teams were guided by high school teachers, university faculty members and community mentors – a holistic approach involving STEM in the context of students' respective communities. The team-based Ethics case study project included visits and campus tours at both universities with opportunities to eat in their dining halls as well as delivering presentations on their work. The paper discusses the methodology employed in the Ethics case study project, as well as planned future work to expand the project and improve it for the next iteration. Overall, the project presentations were outstanding with equal participation of the African American high school students with their college near-peers. Identified areas of improvement include implementation of group contracts as means to synthesize peer to near-peer chemistry, and an early involvement of high school teachers. In addition, the future goal is to plan additional "normalizing immersions" in STEM beyond Ethics. As the MBA collaboration increases, our belief is that students, teachers, mentors, and faculty at the high schools and tertiary institutions will grow more fluent in interacting with each other in a diverse environment, which they would not have been able to accomplish at their respective, less diverse, institutions.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Portfolio Agriculture: A Model for Resilient Regional Agricultural Planning

  Research on World Agricultural Economy · 2024-10-09

  articleOpen accessSenior author

  Food security is threatened by climate change worldwide; consequently, agriculture and farming livelihoods must adapt to new and unpredictable conditions. These conditions vary along spatial scales, and since agricultural yields are sensitive to microclimate conditions, a locally tailored data-driven approach may be helpful. Furthermore, limited agricultural resources like water and labor increasingly constrain food production. This research proposes a regional portfolio model for identifying crop choices and regional portfolio compositions that align with known and forecasted microclimate variation in temperature and humidity. The model will enable farmers to assess tradeoffs between the financial returns and agricultural production risks. The goal of this work is to provide new insights into agricultural planning in the face of climate risk and limited access to water and labor resources. Three steps are taken. Firstly, regional agricultural land is divided into farming subunits, with each representing a terroir characterized by temperature and humidity. Then a simulated yield coefficient is used to assess the effect of microclimate variables on the yield of the different crops in the portfolio of each subunit. Secondly, farming resource allocation, represented by water and labor, across crops and farming subunits is optimized to maximize the yield and associated financial return from farming across the agricultural region. Finally, a resilient agricultural planning model is developed based on the assumed data for regional microclimate and agricultural resources. The results of this research can be used by regional farmers as a reference for selecting crop portfolios and resource allocations to maximize overall profit.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Addressing social equity in coastal climate adaptation planning: A case study of Norfolk, Virginia

  PLOS Climate · 2024-12-30 · 2 citations

  articleOpen accessSenior authorCorresponding

  The consequences of climate change, such as flooding, storms, heat waves, and other climate disasters, have had severe economic and health impacts, with vulnerable communities bearing a disproportionate burden. In Norfolk, Virginia, historical injustices such as redlining contribute to these disparities. This highlights the need to integrate social equity and community engagement into efforts to achieve environmental justice in climate risk management. Although relevant indices and diversity, equity, and inclusion officers have popularized social equity, a shared definition remains elusive. Localized solutions for coastal climate resilience allow governments to make decisions for their communities. However, they also risk contributing to differential outcomes, which may neglect some populations altogether, or limit the effectiveness of resource allocation because of missed opportunities for regional cooperation. This research used Norfolk, Virginia as a case study, conducting stakeholder interviews with representatives from various government levels, non-governmental organizations, and academic institutions to characterize social equity in coastal adaptation planning. The differences in stakeholder feedback and the tools they use for planning and program implementation may be instructive to other coastal communities seeking to integrate social equity in their climate risk management planning.

  PublisherDOI

• Optimal control strategies for water, sanitation, and hygiene in mitigating spread of waterborne diseases

  Journal of Process Control · 2023-12-02 · 4 citations

  articleSenior author
  PublisherDOI

• Gap analysis of climate adaptation policymaking in Coastal Virginia

  Frontiers in Climate · 2023-08-23

  articleOpen accessSenior author

  Due to its inherent multidimensionality and complexities, successful climate adaptation policymaking requires a concerted effort among multiple governance levels. Discovering the challenges and governance gaps can provide insights for policymakers paving the way for more effective policies in the future. This paper intends to provide such analysis for Coastal Virginia, a strategic region in the United States receiving significant climate impacts, particularly sea-level rise (SLR) and flooding. Utilizing semi-structured interviews with the main stakeholders and building on the adaptation framework of Moser and Ekstrom, we identify, categorize, and relate main adaptation challenges to better understand the gaps and underlying institutional dynamics causing them. Intergovernmental coordination and comprehensive planning and prioritization are the main overarching challenges, with high emphasis in the literature, while the challenge of retreat and the private sector are less discussed. It is followed by recommendations for different levels of government, informing the path forward from the stakeholders' perspective. A discussion of findings provides several implications for local, state, and federal policymakers. This research could be extended to other coastal and non-coastal areas to help formulate national and sub-national adaptation policies that maintain a holistic vision for adaptation policymaking while pondering the context-specificities of states, regions, and localities. It would be an essential task as adapting to climate change is still in its infancy stages, with the prospect of staying with us for decades to come.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• A Floating Farm for Hydroponic Crop Cultivation in Small Island Developing States¹

  2023-04-27

  articleSenior author

  This capstone project aims to modify and finalize an existing hydroponic crop cultivation (HCC) system, called the "Fold-out-Farm," to operate on a floating platform in Small Island Developing States (SIDS) that are susceptible to food insecurity due to natural and economic factors. Specifically, when SIDS are hit by natural disasters, crops and agricultural infrastructure can be severely damaged, causing many people to suffer from a lack of both food access and job opportunity. The Fold-out-Farm is completely self-sufficient – it has its own water collection system, solar-based power generation, and on-board growing pods. The unit can float to combat disaster consequences from incidents such as hurricanes. Specifically, the project is working to add a rainwater harvesting system and validate the structural integrity of the unit during a flood. The farm is designed to use off-the-shelf nutrient solutions to grow a variety of crops and the team will find the most suitable option. The team will also expand the market niche for the HCC system by determining the optimal use for the product in urban food deserts, refugee camps, and rooftop gardens. The approach taken has involved communication and research to understand the needs of those who could benefit from a Fold-out-Farm, as well as various testing methods for crops and structure of the unit. Testing has been done through expert surveys, estimation of structural performance, simulation software analysis, and evaluation of crop yield from the unit relative to a control crop grown in soil. Results will be continuously measured, first in testing the system’s ability to deliver water, sun and nutrients to growing modules, its crop yield, and stability in an open water test in the Rivanna river, and finally when presenting the design to sponsors and potential users. Future researchers may build upon these findings to further improve the unit and its potential use to ensure that it is understandable and acceptable to the communities who will be using it. The project will have a market-ready product capable of reducing food insecurity in SIDS and potentially in urban food deserts, refugee camps and rooftop gardens in land scarce areas.

  PublisherDOI

• Climate adaptation in Coastal Virginia: an analysis of existing policies and main stakeholders

  Climate Policy · 2023-01-01 · 7 citations

  articleSenior author

  The impacts of climate change have sparked policy responses at different governance levels. Studying the central adaptation policies and understanding the interactions and complexities of governmental and non-governmental stakeholders is essential in guiding policymakers at different levels of government to formulate policies and make investment decisions. With strategic and economic significance on the national level, Coastal Virginia has one of the highest rates of sea-level rise in the United States, instigating intensified and more frequent climate hazards such as flooding and storms. This paper strives to characterize the status of adaptation policymaking in this region through a novel keyword analysis method and a thematic analysis of interviews with the main adaptation decision-makers and stakeholders. We identify the central adaptation policies and programmes at the local, regional, state, and federal level, as well as the major relevant players. This provides a comprehensible narrative of adaptation policymaking, which could be exploited to further analyze governance gaps and adaptation challenges. The approach and methodologies of this research could be implemented in similar studies for other areas of the U.S. that are at high climate risk, possibly facilitating an informed national adaptation policy, long overdue by the federal government. The research is also relevant for other jurisdictions at risk of sea-level rise.Key policy insights Coastal adaptation policymaking in Virginia has been a bottom-up and fragmented process initiated by most affected localities, exhibiting the importance of local initiatives in higher-level adaptation policies.The long-lasting impacts of 100 Resilient cities and Dutch Dialogues in the City of Norfolk highlight the value of fostering cross-geographic coordination and capacity-building programmes, confirming the importance of informal policy networks in learning and innovation for adaptation.There is a vast difference among localities in adaptation planning and implementation, creating the need for coordinating state leadership.Adaptation policymaking in Virginia has been influenced by political cycles with priorities drastically altered by each administration change, introducing significant uncertainty for continuation of policies.National policies and programmes, such as the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022, can significantly affect local-level policies and decision-making.

  PublisherDOI

• Socioeconomic vulnerability and climate risk in coastal Virginia

  Climate Risk Management · 2023 · 18 citations

  Senior authorCorresponding
  • Political Science
  • Environmental planning
  • Geography

  Coastal Virginia, a region with economic and strategic significance at the state and national level, has been experiencing the highest sea-level rise (SLR) on the Atlantic coast of the United States. This has been accompanied by a variety of climate hazards such as flooding and more frequent storms, initiating adaptation planning and decision-making on multiple governance levels. A spatial understanding of climate risk and its associations with socioeconomic vulnerabilities raises essential questions about the underlying roots of such associations and can help local governments prioritize social vulnerabilities in their adaptation efforts. Using coastal flooding as a climate stressor in this region, this paper conducts analyses that strive to help policymakers more effectively utilize social vulnerability in adaptation planning. The analysis reveals significant associations between climate risk, represented by flood risk, and social vulnerability measures such as poverty, access to infrastructure, education, and housing in certain parts of coastal Virginia. The paper then discusses how associations between vulnerability and climate risk in the region could influence policymaking on the local and state level. This research presents several empirical relationships that raise important questions regarding the drivers of social equity in the face of climate adaptation in coastal Virginia. The methodology developed in this study may be modified to assess social equity in climate adaptation in other coastal communities in the United States and possibly other countries. Such modification can help to illuminate the associations between location-specific social vulnerabilities, such as social safety net policies, and climate risks.

  PublisherDOI

Recent grants

• Ethics Training for Engineers in Emerging Technologies and Fieldwork in Developing Communities

  NSF · $279k · 2005–2009

• CAREER: Integrated Municipal Sanitation Systems

  NSF · $578k · 2000–2006

Frequent coauthors

• Lawrence E. Band

  University of Virginia

  29 shared

• Kazi Ali Tamaddun

  Battelle

  28 shared

• C. J. Vörösmarty

  Hunter College

  27 shared

• L. V. Barnes

  Hampton University

  20 shared

• Brian Aufderheide

  Hampton University

  17 shared

• Otsebele Nare

  Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute

  17 shared

• Daniel Fairley

  North Carolina Wesleyan College

  16 shared

• Sadegh Eghdami

  Engineering Systems (United States)

  11 shared

Awards & honors

• 2000 Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engi…
• 2006-7 AAAS Energy Environment and Natural Resources Fellow
• 2014 Design and Health Faculty Fellow at the University of V…
• 2015 Jefferson Science Fellow as Science Advisor to the Offi…
• Fulbright Specialist in Environment & Development