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Dr. Patricia Feria speaks at a panel discussion on Chagas Disease at Mexico's National Institute for Public Health
Panel discussion ·Dr. Patrica Feria from UTRGV spoke about ongoing research and outreach for Chagas Disease in the Lower Rio Grand Valley at the Instituto Nacional de Salud Pública in Mexico City. The panel discussion also featured talks from Mexican researchers on Chagas Disease and was supported in part by Mexico’s Council for International Educational Exchange (CIEE).
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Professor Clint Dawson is featured in the University of Texas video "Solutions of the Future Start Now".
Media ·The University of Texas Campaign Impact created a video, “Solutions of the Future Start Now”. This video describes ongoing computational research that tackles “tough” problems, from natural disasters to cancer, and features work from Professor Clint Dawson, the scientific lead of FloDisMod.
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The 3rd Annual Florence Nightengale Day held at the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley campus in Edinburg
Outreach ·The 3rd Annual Florence Nightengale Day held at UTRGV is an annual outreach event that promotes statistics and data science research and careers to students on the UTRGV campus as well as local high school students. Alvaro Zavala, based at UTRGV, presented an overview of the Community Engagement activities undertaken by FloDisMod in the Lower Rio Grande Valley region.
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Subtropical Agriculture and Environments Society Conference 2026
Conference ·Subtropical Agriculture and Environments Society Meeting was held in Mission, Texas on February 19-20, 2026. Karla Mona, an undergraduate student studying Psychology at UTRGV, participated in the poster session.
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Professor Tamer Oraby presents in the Oden Seminar series, University of Texas at Austin
Presentation ·Professor Tamer Oraby presented an invited seminar, “Behavioral Game-Theory Models of Vaccine Decision-Making”, at the Oden Institute for Computational Engineering & Sciences at the University of Texas at Austin.
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School of Medicine Research Seminar Series
Seminar ·Dr. Feria presented ongoing research on how extreme flooding events shape the risk of vectorborne disease outbreaks along the Texas–Mexico border, emphasizing implications for public health and preparedness.
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Center for Nonlinear Dynamics Seminar
Presentation ·Dr. Tamer Oraby presented an invited talk, “Modeling Human Decisions in Disease Control: A Behavioral-Game Theory Approach”, to the Center for Nonlinear Dynamics in the Department of Physics at the University of Texas at Austin.
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Coloquio “Clima Extremo y Salud” at Univeresidad Nacional Autonoma de Mexico
Presentation ·Dr. Feria and Dr. Katherine Brown presented at UNAM’s “Clima Extremo y Salud” colloquium, sharing binational research on how extreme weather, floods, and climate change affect vector-borne disease outbreaks in South Texas and Northern Mexico.
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South Texas Promotores Association Get It D.O.N.E. Conference 2025
Conference ·At the South Texas Promotores Association Get It D.O.N.E. Conference, Dr. Oraby presented our work on how artificial intelligence and social media communication can support promotores de salud in preventing infectious diseases in border communities.
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Internship with Austin Public Health
Internship ·Stone Nwamadi secures an internship with he Office of the Medical Director in Austin Public Health for work on West Nile Virus.
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UTRGV AHEC Scholar Students Presentation: Vector-Borne Disease Risk in South Texas
Presentation ·Dr. Feria met with The School of Medicine at UTRGV AHEC Scholar students at the Education Complex to discuss vector-borne diseases in South Texas, highlighting how climate, flooding, and human behavior influence disease risk and prevention strategies.
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Keitt laboratory reports discovery of a bird, "The Grue Jay", which exists as a result of changes in climate patterns.
Media ·Professor Tim Keitt and his PhD student Brian Stokes report the discovery of a hybrid bird species that is a cross between a blue jay and a green jay. This species is likely a result of changes in the habitats of both species that are being affected by altering climate conditions.
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Professor Tamer Oraby becomes a J.T. Oden Faculty Fellow
Fellowship ·Professor Tamer Oraby was invited to be a J.T. Oden Faculty fellow for the Fall term in the Oden Institute for Computational Engineering & Sciences at the University of Texas at Austin.
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NSF Open Source Software Workshop, 'Convening on Sustaining Open Source Software in the Research Enterprise'
Workshop ·Dr. Katherine Brown discusses the FloDisMod project at the NSF Open Source Software Workshop, “Convening on Sustaining Open Source Software in the Research Enterprise” held at the Ithaka office in New York City.
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FloDisMod Braille Keychain
Outreach ·As part of our accessibility efforts, our team is currently developing a 3D-printed outreach keychain that integrates Braille text that links to the upcoming FloDisMod website.
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Calendar Survey
Conference ·At the 2025 STEM Research Conference, our team collaboratively designed and drafted a calendar survey—now published in Qualtrics and under faculty review—to evaluate the effectiveness of our community engagement tools.
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2025 STEM Research Conference
Conference ·During this conference we had the opportunity to present about the outcomes of FloDisMod, and we were able to share our experience with the public. It was a great opportunity to get more feedback on our outcomes and get to learn about other students present their artwork.
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Meeting with expert in infectious diseases and CENAPRECE, Mexico
Outreach ·Dra. Feria met with people from CENAPRECE in Mexico City during Friday April 25, to talk about vector-borne diseases, binational collaboration, and how to reach out to people through social media and emerging technologies. Dra. Feria also had the opportunity to meet with Guadalupe Gordillo-Pérez a researcher at the Mexican Institute of Social Security.
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Texas Climate Conference 2025, RICE University
Conference ·Alvaro attended the Texas Climate Conferenceat Rice University on April to represent FloDisMod, he presented his poster about the project, and had the opportunity to meet other researchers within our line of work.
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Subtropical Agriculture and Environments Society Meeting 2025
Conference ·The Subtropical Agriculture and Environments Society Meeting was held in Mission, Texas this year and included a number of presentations from the FloDisMod Team.
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Annual AGU24 Conference in Washington, D.C.
Conference ·Dr. Katherine Brown presented an invited to in the Ocean Sciences program at the annual conference of the American Geophysical Union in Washington, D.C.
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Triatoma species presentation by Darianna
Outreach ·Darianna helped us create a presentation regarding the seven species of Triatoma that have been identified in Texas. This presentation contained images of the species, characteristics, location of the species, and safety tips to protect yourself.
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The University of Texas at Austin GIS Day 2024
Conference ·The University of Texas at Austin Libraries hosted their annual GIS Day conference. This year’s theme explored geospatial artificial intelligence.
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Panel Discussion - Dengue & COVID-19
Panel Discussion ·Dra. Feria participated in a panel discussion where the main topic was “Dengue & COVID-19”. In this panel, experts ad community members collaborated and shared their points of view regarding public health concerns.
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Get it D.O.N.E Conference, South Texas Promotores Association, South Padre Island Texas
Media, Conference ·The FloDisMod team met at the 18th Annual “Get it D.O.N.E.” Conference, organized by the South Texas Promotores Association. At this conference, Dr. Teresa Feria gave an excellent presentation, in which she shared with us more information about vector-borne diseases and why it is so important to prevent them.
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TACCSTER 2024: Texas Advanced Computer Symposium
Symposium ·Members of the FloDisMod team presented at the annual Texas Advanced Computer Center (TACC) symposium. Highlights included an invited talk by Professor Clint Dawson, “How HPC Revolutionized Storm Surge Modeling” and a poster prize award to Liting Huang for her work, “Simulation of Mosquito Population after Hurricane Harvey”.
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FloDisMod: First Step Against Vectors — Outreach Videos
Outreach ·Presented during the 18th Annual Get It D.O.N.E. Texas Promotores Association Conference at South Padre Island, these short videos introduce the FloDisMod initiative and its vector-borne disease awareness campaign.
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Telemundo40: Interview with Dr. Teresa Patricia Feria
Media ·Watch this exciting interview with Dr. Teresa Patricia Feria on Telemundo40 discussing how many people are still unaware of what extreme weather is and how it affects them.
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Open Source Program Office User Advisory Group at the University of Texas at Austin
User group membership ·Members of FloDIsMod team join the inaugural Open Source Program Office User Advisory Group at the University of Texas at Austin.
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Stone Nwamadi wins an EFAS Scholarship with UTRGV
Scholarship ·Stone Nwamadi, a public health major at the University of Texas at Austin wins an Empowering Future Agricultural Scientists’ scholarship with the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley.
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Local News Article: UTRGV works to prevent spread of vector borne disease in the Valley
Media ·Watch this exciting interview with Dr. Teresa Patricia Feria on Rio Grande Valley local news channel KRGV where she discusses how a non-profit group is teaming up with the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley to help prevent the spread of vector borne diseases which spread by insects.
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Marissa Llamas wins an EFAS Scholarship with UTRGV
Scholarship ·Marissa Llamas, a mathematics major at the University of Texas at Austin has won an Empowering Future Agricultural Scientists’ scholarship with the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley.
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New University of Texas Open Source Program Office User Group created with FloDisMod representation.
Committee Appointment ·The Open Source Program Office at the University of Texas at Austin has established a user advisory group. The group includes members from the FloDisMod team: Katherine Brown, Tim Keiit, Michael Shensky and Alex Marsden.
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Ira Narang wins an award at the 2024 UTRGV College of Sciences Annual Research Conference
Award ·Ira Narang, an undergraduate student studying computer engineering at UT Austin, was awarded “Best Undergraduate Oral Presentation” under the category of Earth, Environmental, and Marine Sciences at the the 2024 UTRGV College of Sciences Annual Research Conference.
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2024 President's Research Impact Award
Award ·Professor Clint Dawson wins the University of Texas at Austin President’s Research Impact award for his research in data-driven storm-surge modeling.
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Visualization of Flood, Disease and Climate Modeling through the Eclipse Path of Texas and Beyond
Outreach ·For the April 8 total solar eclipse, the Oden Institute for Computational Engineering and Sciences featured the installation “From COASTLINE to INLINE,” which integrates arts and technology at the intersection of climate change, flood and disease modeling.
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Planet Texas 2050: Resilience in Action, 2024 symposium
Symposium ·FloDisMod members participated in a number of events at the Planet Texas 2050 symposium, held at the University of Texas at Austin, 27-29 February, 2024. The symposium highlights efforts of groups exploring different aspects of resilience, and facilities community building around this topic in Texas and beyond.
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The University of Texas GIS Day 2023: Celebrating Open Geospatial Science
Conference ·The University of Texas at Austin Libraries hosted GIS Day 2023: Celebrating Open Geospatial Science. The event brought together local participants conducting geospatial research and included a workshop, talks and a poster session where FloDisMod team members presented their work.
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Community Learning Exchange Partners hosted by the Museum of South Texas
Panel Discussion ·The Museum of South Texas History in Edinburgh Texas hosted a Community Learning Exchange Partners that with participants from Cameron and Hidalgo Counties and the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley and UT Austin.
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Telemundo40: Interview with Dr. Teresa Patricia Feria and Dr. Katherine Brown
Media ·Watch this exciting interview with Dr. Teresa Patricia Feria and Dr. Katherine Brown on Telemundo40.
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Ira Narang wins EFAS Scholarship with UTRGV
Scholarship ·Ira Narang, a computer engineering major at the University of Texas at Austin has won an Empowering Future Agricultural Scientists’ scholarship with the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley.
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ADCIRC Storm Surge Modeling in DesignSafe 101 with Dr. Clint Dawson
Workshop ·Workshop Time: Wednesday, May 17, 2:00pm - 3:00pm US Central Time
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The Lonsdale Lecture Prize of the British Crystallographic Association
Symposium, Award ·Dr. Katherine Brown delivered the Dame Kathleen Lonsdale Lecture at the annual meeting British Crystallographic Association held at the University of Sheffield, UK.
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Planet Texas 2050 symposium 'Resilience in Action'
Symposium ·Members of the FloDisTeam presented posters at the annual Planet Texas 2050 symposium, “Resilience Research in Action”. Posters presented included an overview of the FloDisMod program and a project involving the development of Open Source sensors for collecting environmental data.
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The Planet Texas 2050 Climate Change and Health Symposium, University of Texas Austin
Media, Symposium ·We presented our recent work as part of the Planet Texas 2050 flagship project AI-Enabled Model Integration.
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Planet Texas 2050 News: How Flooding is Informing Infectious Disease Spread
Media ·Johnny Holden interviewed Dr. Katherine Brown for the upcoming Planet Texas 2050 Annual Symposium.
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Wellcome Trust Press Release features FloDisMod
Media ·The FloDisMod project is one of the projects funded by the Wellcome Trust under Early warning systems for other types of disease transmission category.
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Interview with Dr. Eduardo A. Rebollar-Téllez
Media ·Watch this exciting interview with our collaborator Dr. Eduardo A. Rebollar-Téllez on Youtube.
News
Photo by Dr. Chrysoula Panethymitaki