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Infrastructure and the Built Environment

Society is built on increasingly complex and interconnected infrastructure systems to support our way of life. The National Academies study transportation, energy, water systems, and urban design to improve how we build and live. Explore research that advances safe, sustainable, and future-ready infrastructure to connect people, places, and economies.

What's happening

Community Voices and Scientific Insight Build a More Resilient Cedar Key

Program News

Cedar Key, a small Florida island battered by hurricanes and rising seas, is partnering with scientists from the University of Florida to create customized, nature-based defenses against flooding. Through community workshops and co-designed plans, residents are helping shape living shorelines and other green infrastructure to protect their homes, roads, and traditions from future storms.

Nov 3, 2025

Gulf Research Program Welcomes Six Universities to Interdisciplinary Gulf Scholars Program

News Release

The Gulf Research Program (GRP) of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine announced today the addition of six colleges and universities to the Gulf Scholars Program, a five-year, $12.7 million pilot program that prepares undergraduate students to address pressing environmental, health, energy, and infrastructure challenges in the Gulf Coast region.

Oct 29, 2025

IMG_2373.jpg Conference attendees gather at the University of South Alabama for the 2025 Gulf Scholars Program Conference.

Gulf Research Program and NOAA Award $4 Million to Support Environmental Literacy for Community Resilience

News Release

The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine’s Gulf Research Program (GRP) and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Environmental Literacy Program are partnering with $4 million in investments to support six place-based educational projects across the Gulf States — Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, and Florida. The awarded projects aim to help people better understand the connections between science, the environment, and their communities, building resilience to environmental challenges while fostering stronger stewardship of local ecosystems.

Oct 22, 2025

A reptilian with a sharp snout relaxing in a big log of Cajun Swamp Tours

Featured Publications

Featured work

K-12 STEM Education and Workforce Development in Rural Areas

Consensus/Advisory Activity

Modernizing Probable Maximum Precipitation Estimation

Consensus/Advisory Activity

Workplace Barriers, Solutions, and Policies for STEM and STEM Education Professionals and Postsecondary Students with Disabilities

Consensus/Advisory Activity

Technologies and Practices for Plugging and Remediating Orphaned and Abandoned Oil and Gas Wells

Consensus/Advisory Activity

In Progress

Science and Technology for Resilience

Initiative

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Infrastructure and the Built Environment

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What's happening

Featured Publications

Featured work

K-12 STEM Education and Workforce Development in Rural Areas

Modernizing Probable Maximum Precipitation Estimation

Workplace Barriers, Solutions, and Policies for STEM and STEM Education Professionals and Postsecondary Students with Disabilities

Technologies and Practices for Plugging and Remediating Orphaned and Abandoned Oil and Gas Wells

Science and Technology for Resilience

Research and Technology Coordinating Committee (Federal Highway Administration)

Extreme Weather Events and Insurance Webinar Series

Government-University-Industry-Philanthropy Research Roundtable Webinars

Epidemiologic Study on the Health of Veterans Who Served at Fort McClellan, 1979-1999

TRB Webinars

Review of the National Levee Safety Guidelines

Evaluation of Hydrodynamic Modeling and Implications for Offshore Wind Development: Nantucket Shoals

Exploring Linkages Between Soil Health and Human Health

Analysis of Causes of Failure and Collapse of the 305-Meter Telescope at the Arecibo Observatory

Community Wastewater-based Infectious Disease Surveillance

Criteria for Installing Automatic and Remote-Controlled Shutoff Valves on Existing Gas and Hazardous Liquid Transmission Pipelines

Health Risks of Indoor Exposures to Fine Particulate Matter and Practical Mitigation Solutions

Committee on Options for Improving the Safety of Amphibious Vessels (DUKW boats) When Used in Passenger Service

Peer Review of Interim Report on Computational Fluid Dynamics Model for Predicting Wellhead Oil-Burning Efficiency at Bench and Intermediate Scales

Assessing the Operational Suitability of DoD Test and Evaluation Ranges and Infrastructure

Science and Technology for Resilience

Research and Technology Coordinating Committee (Federal Highway Administration)

TRB Webinars

The Chemistry of Urban Wildfires

Webinar Series: Frontiers of Big Data, Modeling, and Simulation in Urban Sustainability

Government-University-Industry-Philanthropy Research Roundtable Webinars

Climate Change, the Indoor Environment, and Health

Accelerating Decarbonization in the United States: Technology, Policy, and Societal Dimensions

Performance-Based Safety Regulation

Microbiomes of the Built Environment: From Research to Application

GSA’s Health in Buildings Research Program -- A Federal Facilities Council Series

Criteria for Installing Automatic and Remote-Controlled Shutoff Valves on Existing Gas and Hazardous Liquid Transmission Pipelines

Committee on Options for Improving the Safety of Amphibious Vessels (DUKW boats) When Used in Passenger Service

Guidance on PFAS Testing and Health Outcomes

A Report Series on Progress and Opportunities Toward Decreasing the Risk of Offshore Energy Operations

Review of Effectiveness and Efficiency of Defense Environmental Cleanup Activities of the Department of Energy's Office of Environmental Management

Supplemental Treatment of Low-Activity Waste at the Hanford Nuclear Reservation

Independent Assessment of Science and Technology for the Department of Energy’s Defense Environmental Cleanup Program

Study on Propane Gas Pipeline Facilities

Connector Reliability for Offshore Oil and Natural Gas Operations (BOLTS Study)

Waste Form Technology and Performance

Evaluation of Hydrodynamic Modeling and Implications for Offshore Wind Development: Nantucket Shoals

Assessing the Operational Suitability of DoD Test and Evaluation Ranges and Infrastructure

A Report Series on Progress and Opportunities Toward Decreasing the Risk of Offshore Energy Operations

Laying the Foundation for New and Advanced Nuclear Reactors in the United States

Key Goals and Innovations Needed for a U.S. Fusion Pilot Plant

Powering the U.S. Army of the Future

Enhancing U.S. Nuclear Forensics and Attribution Support Capabilities

Review of DOD's Revised Approach to Deriving an Occupational Exposure Level for Trichloroethylene (TCE)

Offshore Oil and Gas Industry Safety Culture

Real-Time Monitoring of Offshore Oil and Gas Operations

TRB Webinars

The Role of Public Transportation and Mobility Management in an Era of New and Expanding Shared Mobility Options

Study on Performance of Bridges

Review of Federal Highway Administration Infrastructure R&D

Future Interstate Highway System Study

Review of Federal Highway Administration Infrastructure R&D - Expert Task Group on Pavements

Review of Federal Highway Administration Infrastructure R&D - Expert Task Group on Bridges

Intelligent Construction Systems and Technology for Highways: Program Review

Review of the Long-Term Bridge Performance Program: Expert Task Group for Bridge Traffic and Truck Weights

Expert Task Group on LTPP Special Activities

Extreme Weather Events and Insurance Webinar Series

TRB Webinars

An Ocean Infrastructure Strategy for U.S. Ocean Research in 2030

Evaluating Testing, Costs, and Benefits of Advanced Spectroscopic Portals

K-12 STEM Education and Workforce Development in Rural Areas

Science and Technology for Resilience

TRB Webinars

Strengthening the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration Research & Technology Program

Peer Review of Interim Report on Computational Fluid Dynamics Model for Predicting Wellhead Oil-Burning Efficiency at Bench and Intermediate Scales

Enhancing the U.S. Chemical Economy through Investments in Fundamental Research in the Chemical Sciences

United States Contributions to Global Ocean Plastic Waste

Merits and Viability of Different Nuclear Fuel Cycles and Technology Options and the Waste Aspects of Advanced Nuclear Reactors

Offshore Oil and Gas Industry Safety Culture: Phase 1