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Sustainable Finance Initiative is a cross-campus effort of the Precourt Institute for Energy.

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Rethinking socioeconomic risk from coastal flooding at HighTide Intelligence

Raghav Sharma, MS '23
Graduate Fellow,
HighTide Intelligence

One of the most evident consequences of climate change is the increasing likelihood and intensity of extreme hydrologic events. Warming-induced perturbations in the hydrologic cycle lead to stronger storms, putting low-lying coastal communities at a pronounced risk, making it increasingly important to develop climate intelligence and incorporate resilience. Over my first academic year at Stanford, I developed an interest in extreme weather risk and informing resilience decisions for vulnerable coastal communities. With the support of Stanford’s Sustainable Finance Initiative this summer, I have the opportunity to further my interest as a data-driven modeling intern at HighTide Intelligence, a flood intelligence startup focused on comprehensive socioeconomic flood risk analysis and mitigation planning.

My role in the tech team is to study the potential of HighTide’s fast flood model and validate its results while exploring alternative modeling techniques for scaling beyond the current application domain. To study the inland inundation extent of surge events, I explored an indirect method for studying the maximum inland extent of a surge event based on wave celerity assumptions, the results of which were unrealistic. So we decided to run a traditional computational fluid dynamics model which accounts for the topographic intricacies of specific geographies. However, I learned that no effort is wasted as we found an unanticipated relationship between surge duration and height. In the process of running the CFD model, I had the opportunity to develop my GIS skills which are crucial for analyzing spatial environmental data and subsequently mapping inundation and analyzing flood risk. I also gained insights into building a commercially scalable integrated risk engine as opposed to building models for academic research. These learnings have equipped me well with crucial skills for materializing my long-term goal of working in climate risk and resilience.

Contrary to my expectations from remote work, I feel a remarkable sense of belongingness and camaraderie, thanks to the supportive and encouraging team at HighTide. Kicking off the internship, I was excited by the prospect of learning state-of-the-art inundation modeling methods, but reflecting upon my first six weeks at HighTide, I have also witnessed holistic personal growth. In the pursuit of setting up and running the CFD model, I often ran into impediments, inadvertently finding myself in gumption traps. However, with the guidance and pep talks from Adrian, CEO, and co-founder of HighTide, I was always able to stay patient and stick to the process, eventually overcoming the roadblocks. My interactions with Adrian and Dr. Dewar, CTO at HighTide, have taught me valuable lessons in leadership, collaboration, and team building which have not only helped me discover my strengths but have reinvigorated my drive to collectively work towards a resilient future.

My time at HighTide this summer has been consequential in helping me align my skills and mindset toward a larger goal of enabling vulnerable communities to analyze and mitigate extreme weather risks. I am truly grateful to HighTide and Sustainable Finance Initiative for providing this incredibly fun and enriching experience.

Source: https://hightide.ai/top-10-cities-in-florida-exposed-to-sea-level-rise/