Research conducted by two doctoral students in Urban and Regional Science, Zhenghong “Tommy” Tang and Liang Chang, earned first place honors and other awards in their respective categories at Texas A&M University’s 2006 Student Research Week (SRW) competition. Both are research assistants in the Hazards Reduction and Recovery Center.

Tang, who hails from Hunan, China, presented an oral presentation, on “measuring strategic environmental assessment capacities of local land use comprehensive planning in California.” In addition to first place honors, Tang’s presentation earned the SRW Interdisciplinary Research Recognition Award.

Liang Chang, from Nanyang, China, earned first place for his social science poster presentation, "A Hurricane Wind Risk Assessment Methodology." He also garnered the Lone Star Graduate Diversity Colloquium Choice Award and an SRW Interdisciplinary Research Recognition Award. Chang is a graduate fellow in the HRRC’s Sustainable Coastal Margins Program.

Also, Sudha Arlikatti from Kerala, India, another HRRC research assistant and URS Ph.D. student, earned third place at the SRW competition for her presentation, “The Role of Trust and Stakeholder Interactions in Seismic Safety.” She has accepted a faculty post at the University of North Texas, and will be starting in the fall.