News: Winners at CCEE 3MT

2026/04/22 – NCSU Civil, Construction, and Environmental Engineering
Coastal Engineering Student Takes Home 1st Place Prize at 3MT Competition

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“The work of civil, construction, and environmental engineers impacts communities, and part of the education students receive here is to ensure they are prepared to communicate effectively with stakeholders they will encounter in their careers,” Kittle Autry said.

As for advice to next year’s participants, Lott said to simply have fun with it.

“This has nothing to do with pressure,” Lott said. “It’s a way to step out of your normal day to day and get a different kind of experience.”

Sarah Grace and Jenero win Awards at CCEE 3MT

Sarah Grace Lott won the First Place Award at the 3-Minute Thesis (3MT) competition in the Department of Civil, Construction, and Environmental Engineering (CCEE). She presented one slide about her community-engaged modeling as part of our NSF DRRG project.

Sarah Grace accepts her award from Dr. Meagan Kittle Autry.

Jenero Knowles was the People’s Choice Award, as voted by attendees of the event. He presented one slide about his worst-possible storm framework as part of our DOD ESTCP project.

Jenero accepts his award from Dr. Meagan Kittle Autry.

Congratulations to Sarah Grace and Jenero!

Casey wins CCEE Senior Mentor Award

Casey won the Excellence in Mentoring Award (Senior Faculty) from the Department of Civil, Construction, and Environmental Engineering (CCEE) at NC State University. This is nice recognition, especially because the nominations are submitted by the students. He appreciated the kind words in their nomination letters. We have a great team!

Casey accepts the award from Jackie MacDonald Gibson, while joined by his students Katherine Couch, Sarah Grace Lott, Jenero Knowles, Nicole Arrigo, Nahruma Pieu, and Kira Nuviae.

News: Spotlight on Sarah Grace

2026/03/16 – Southeast Climate Adaptation Science Center
Researcher Spotlight – Sarah Grace Lott

What results are you finding? Coastal communities on the North Carolina Outer Banks are engaged and want to plan for more resilient futures. By modeling adaptations, such as returning sections of the barrier islands to natural processes or raising the elevation of marshes, we have found that some of the preferred adaptations to reduce flooding actually led to more widespread flooding within communities. We have also found that adaptations have local effects on flooding. Looking to the future, communities will need to coordinate across the entire region to lead to widespread resiliency.

Who will benefit from your research? This research directly benefits the community members of the North Carolina Outer Banks. Our work is grounded in community participation. All of our research questions and modeling scenarios are directly informed by the people who live in vulnerable communities. My goal is that by seeing the potential outcomes of different choices modeled out, these communities will have a powerful new tool to help them envision, discuss, and plan for a more resilient future.

Sarah Grace wins Second Place at EWC Symposium

Sarah Grace Lott won Second Place at the Environmental, Water Resources, and Coastal (EWC) Engineering Graduate Research Symposium, hosted by the Department of Civil, Construction, and Environmental Engineering (CCEE) at NC State University. The award is voted on by judges who are local engineers and scientists (and often former students!). CCHT members Jenero Knowles and Nicole Arrigo were also finalists for awards.

Congratulations to Sarah Grace!

Sarah Grace (center) was presented the award by Drs. Katherine Anarde and Jacelyn Rice-Boayue.

News: Key Bridge

2026/02/18 – NCSU Civil, Construction, and Environmental Engineering
The Baltimore Bridge Collapse: Understanding Water Currents and a Disaster’s Aftermath

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While the simulators don’t explain the whole event, like why the Dali lost power in the first place, the models do explain how the local currents contributed to the ship’s drift toward the bridge. “The currents were stronger on the ship’s port side, and they caused it to turn southward and allide with the bridge pier,” Dietrich said.

The research team investigated a number of factors that could have influenced the Dali allision, such as channel depth, current speed and sea level rise. The researchers discovered that the ship’s drift motion was highly sensitive to uncertainties related to both the ship itself and its environment. In fact, they found that if the Dali had lost power just one minute later, the ship would have been much more likely to drift under the bridge unscathed.

Sarah Grace selected as Global Change Research Fellow

M.S. student Sarah Grace Lott was selected as a Global Change Research Fellow by the Southeast Climate Adaptation Science Center. Sarah Grace will participate in the 2025-2026 cohort and receive training and collaborate with students from across disciplines in climate science.

The fellowship program is designed to train the next generation of global change scientists by providing financial, scientific, and professional development support for graduate students who are interested in multi-disciplinary research. They come together across disciplines to discover, collaborate, and share their knowledge with diverse stakeholders. Learn more about the program at the SECASC web site.

Congratulations to Sarah Grace!

Casey is Alumni Distinguished Undergraduate Professor

Casey Dietrich was selected as an Alumni Distinguished Undergraduate Professor. It is one of the most prestigious undergraduate teaching awards at NC State, and winners retain the title for as long as they remain a member of the NC State faculty. Finalists are nominated by their colleges, and then winners are selected at the university level. During 2024-2025, the award was given to 6 instructors, or less than 1 per 400 faculty members.

Casey received the award from Dr. Helen Chen, Senior Vice Provost for Instructional Programs, at the University Teaching Awards Luncheon and Ceremony.