It’s an oxymoron of sorts: better refugee camps. But despite contradictory terms, a team of CEE researchers is working to improve wastewater treatment systems at refugee camps, which are typically constructed quickly to accommodate people displaced by both natural and man-made disasters.

The UW has received a five-year, $4.1 million Natural Hazards Engineering Research Infrastructure grant from the National Science Foundation to fund a new disaster investigation center that will be led by CEE faculty.