Luis F. Rodriguez, associate professor in agricultural and biological engineering at University of Illinois, has received a $750,000 grant from USDA’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) to develop project-based education on disaster relief and resilience. The grant will support courses and study abroad programs conducted in collaboration with partners in Puerto Rico.
Rodriguez had been teaching classes comparing food and agricultural systems in the U.S. Midwest and the tropics for several years, when a planned study abroad trip to Puerto Rico had to be cancelled due to the impact of Hurricane Maria in fall 2017.
“The students wanted to see if there was something we could do in order to help the situation. Eventually, we created a class specifically on disaster relief and resilience,” he explains.
The course, offered in the Department of Agricultural and Biological Engineering (ABE), focuses on studying the infrastructure and evaluating needs for assistance in areas affected by natural disasters. Students work on engineering projects and urban planning, developing solutions that are appropriate for the local context.