Michelle Hummel

Dr. Michelle Hummel is an Associate Professor of Water Resources in the Department of Civil Engineering at the University of Texas at Arlington. Dr. Hummel’s research examines how coastal regions—with their interdependent human populations, natural ecosystems, and built infrastructure—adapt to changing environmental hazards. She develops advanced modeling tools to quantify the physical drivers of flood hazards, the resulting impacts on coastal populations and infrastructure systems, and the effectiveness of engineered and nature-based adaptation strategies meant to enhance resilience to future events. Dr. Hummel’s work has been funded by the National Science Foundation, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the Department of Energy, the US Coastal Research Program, and the Texas Department of Transportation. In 2025, she received the National Science Foundation CAREER award to study the feedbacks between coastal-terrestrial flood mechanisms and community-level decision making about shoreline adaptation. Dr. Hummel holds Ph.D. and M.S. degrees in Environmental Engineering from the University of California, Berkeley and a B.S. degree in Civil Engineering from Case Western Reserve University.