Katherine Anarde

Katherine Anarde is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Civil, Construction, and Environmental Engineering at North Carolina State University's College of Engineering. She joined the faculty in August 2021 and is a member of the Environmental, Water Resources, and Coastal Engineering Group. Her research integrates observational and numerical methods to study coastal hazards, with a focus on both acute storm impacts and chronic climate-driven threats such as sea level rise and recurrent 'sunny-day' flooding.

• Ph.D. in Civil and Environmental Engineering, Rice University (2019)
• B.A. in Geological Sciences, University of Colorado Boulder (2011)

Dr. Anarde's research spans coastal engineering, geomorphology, and environmental science, with strong interdisciplinary collaboration involving social scientists and community stakeholders. Her work investigates how tropical cyclones, meteotsunamis, and chronic sea level rise affect coastal habitability, infrastructure, and ecosystems. She leads real-time monitoring projects for sunny-day flooding in coastal North Carolina, leveraging sensor networks, satellite remote sensing (e.g., Sentinel-1, PlanetScope), and hydrodynamic models (SWAN+ADCIRC, SWMM5). Her research emphasizes climate justice, particularly in marginalized rural communities underserved by traditional tide gauge networks.

Her funded research projects highlight a strong trend in community-centered, interdisciplinary science addressing flood risk, adaptation, and resilience. She uses advanced modeling and network analysis to assess road network vulnerability, barrier island evolution, and flood drivers across diverse coastal landscapes. Her work bridges physical science with human dimensions, including migration behavior and community preferences in climate adaptation.

Scientific awards and recognition include:

• National Academies Early Career Fellowship - Gulf Research Program
• Outstanding Engagement Award, NC State University
• Academy of Outstanding Faculty in Extension & Engagement
• Goodnight Early Career Innovators Award

Dr. Anarde actively mentors graduate students and leads a dynamic research group focused on coastal hazard monitoring and modeling. She collaborates widely across institutions and agencies, including UNC Chapel Hill, UNCW, NOAA, NASA, NSF, and NC DOT. Her team deploys innovative technologies such as smart cameras with on-device machine learning and low-cost water level sensors to provide real-time, privacy-preserving flood data streams to partner communities. She is co-developing early-warning systems and decision-support tools with local officials and community groups in North Carolina and Hawai'i to enable equitable climate adaptation.