Projects
Pandemics and Infrastructure Systems
Understand how water utilities were impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic and assess water and electricity demand changes at the building-level.
Key Publications:
Spearing, L.,... and Faust, K. (2020). “Implications of Social Distancing Policies on Drinking Water Infrastructure: An Overview of the Challenges to and Responses of US Utilities during the COVID-19 Pandemic.” Environmental Science and Technology Water, 1. https://doi.org/10.1021/acsestwater.0c00229
Spearing, L.,... and Faust, K. (2021). “Human-Infrastructure Interactions during the COVID-19 Pandemic: Understanding Water and Electricity Demand Profiles at the Building-Level.” Environmental Science and Technology Water. https://doi.org/10.1021/acsestwater.1c00176
Berglund, E. Z.,..Spearing, L.,..Kadinski, L. (2021). “Water and Wastewater Systems and Utilities: Challenges and Opportunities during the COVID-19 Pandemic.” Journal of Water Resources Planning and Management, 147 (5). https://doi.org/10.1061/(ASCE)WR.1943-5452.0001373 *Editor’s Choice, Issue 147(5)
The Provision of Water Infrastructure in Rural Alaska
Understand what factors cause water-sector challenges in rural Alaska by integrating perspectives from a variety of stakeholders.
Disaster-Induced Population Dynamics
Document the cascading impacts of population displacement to hosting communities and study the social and sheltering systems to improve response.
Key Publications:
Spearing, L., Stephens, K., and Faust, K. (2021). “Shelter Shopping: Where the Built Environment and Social Systems Meet.” International Journal of Disaster Risk Reduction, 58. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijdrr.2021.102161
Spearing, L., and Faust, K. (2020). “Cascading System Impacts of the 2018 Camp Fire in California: The Interdependent Provision of Infrastructure Services to Displaced Populations.” International Journal of Disaster Risk Reduction, 50. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijdrr.2020.101822
Addressing Sociotechnical Infrastructure Challenges
Study various challenges in the water sector, including water affordability, access, and public perceptions towards their systems (e.g., aesthetics).
Key Publications:
Spearing, L., Dias, F., Faust, K., and Bhat, C. (2020). “Determining Multi-level Drivers of Perceiving Undesirable Taste and Odor in Tap Water: A Joint Modeling Approach.” Journal of Water Resources Planning and Management, 147 (3). https://doi.org/10.1061/(ASCE)WR.1943-5452.0001326
Spearing, L., Bakchan, A., Hamlet, L., Stephens, K., Kaminsky, J., and Faust, K. (2022). “Comparing Qualitative Analysis Techniques for Construction Engineering and Management Research: The Case of Arctic Water Infrastructure.” Journal of Construction Engineering and Management Special Collection on Research Methodologies. https://doi.org/10.1061/(ASCE)CO.1943-7862.0002313
