Ms Laura Szczyrba

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Position: PhD Student

Department: Geological Sciences and Civil Engineering

University/Institute/Company: Queen’s University

About

After witnessing the devastating impacts of flooding during disaster response deployments to Louisiana and Puerto Rico, Laura returned to graduate school to improve coastal hazard quantification and mitigation. Her interdisciplinary research draws from earth science, engineering, and social science principles.

Laura received her Master’s degree from Virginia Tech’s Geosciences Department where she studied the building damage caused by Hurricane Maria in Puerto Rico. Her prior degrees include a B.S. in Environmental Sciences and a B.A. in Spanish from the University of Virginia. While at the University of Virginia, her research focused on coastal hydrodynamics. Following undergrad, she worked for a few years at an engineering firm, where she contributed to flood hazard mitigation and disaster response projects.