Our group studies natural-human systems in order to: 1) improve understanding of new risks to people and the environment across sectors and scales; and 2) design approaches for mitigating these vulnerabilities. We use engineering fundamentals, operations research and a wide range of analytical and statistical approaches to build high resolution, mechanistic models of real-world systems. Then we use high performance computing to simulate system dynamics under uncertainty and stress, with the ultimate goal of informing optimal system design and/or control strategies.

We have an especially strong interest in energy system decarbonization and exposure to weather and climate uncertainty and extremes. Much of our work is ultimately aimed at supporting real-world decision-making regarding management of/ investment in natural resources and critical infrastructure, and we frequently interact with and collaborate with actual stakeholders (e.g., electric power utilities). Students in our group gain modeling and analytical skills and sector-specific knowledge– as well as a professional network spanning academia, government, and the private sector– that they can leverage to pursue a range of post-graduate employment opportunities.

Please feel free to navigate through the menu topics to learn more about different projects we have finished or are currently working on.

Interested in joining?

If you: are interested in working on relevant, cross-cutting projects that deal with the power grid, extreme weather and climate change, environmental sustainability, and financial/economic markets; and you can code; and you like highly quantitative research, feel free to reach out.

It doesn’t hurt that Raleigh/Durham/Chapel Hill (the “Research Triangle”) is a great, and pretty affordable place to live.

Jordan Kern, Assistant Professor
Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering
North Carolina State University
Campus Box 7906
Raleigh, NC 27695-7906 USA
email: jkern [at] ncsu [dot] edu