The mood in Matt Bilskie’s office in the University of Georgia’s ISTEM complex is at odds with his area of study. Sunlight streams through a large window, highlighting a peaceful space centered around a painting of an ocean landscape. The space is tidy, though clearly well used, and radiates a quiet energy that fosters collaboration.
A shared lab space with College of Engineering colleagues Brian Bledsoe, C. Brock Woodson, and Felix Santiago-Collazo is surrounded by maps on walls, a slight indication of the scale and scope of the lab’s work. It’s a distinct contrast to the science taking place, which investigates one of nature’s most destructive forces.
Bilskie’s lab develops high-resolution computational models to simulate the interaction of tides, wind-driven waves, hurricanes, and rainfall runoff. Their models mimic the movement of the ocean, which can be applied in several ways.
“We can simulate effects of the daily tides of the coastal environment as well as the impacts of hurricanes and how they move water and flood areas,” said Bilskie, an associate professor in the College of Engineering.
Using a blend of engineering, computer science, ecology, and natural resource economics, Bilskie’s team is gaining new insights into how changing landscapes influence flooding and designing novel tools to assess risk.
‘Get out your weather pamphlets’
Bilskie developed an interest in hurricanes growing up in Florida, where he experienced their devastating force firsthand.
In middle school, before the expansion of digital technologies, Bilskie would collect weather pamphlets distributed by local news agencies at the grocery store during hurricane season.
“You would get a pamphlet, and it would have a map of the Atlantic Ocean,” Bilskie said. “It came with hurricane symbol stickers. I remember on the news, the weathermen would say, ‘Get out your weather pamphlets,’ and they would provide the track of the longitude and latitude of where to put the stickers to track the storms.”
That early curiosity, together with his aptitude for engineering, laid the foundation for Bilskie’s pioneering career in coastal and climate resilience. As an undergraduate, he worked in the late Scott Hagen’s Coastal Hydroscience Analysis, Modeling & Predictive Simulations (CHAMPS) Laboratory at the University of Central Florida. Bilskie earned bachelor’s, master’s, and doctoral degrees in civil engineering, and served as a research scientist at Louisiana State University for four years before joining UGA’s faculty in 2020.
Today, Bilskie studies the dynamic interaction between natural systems and the built environment, aiming to better understand how nature-based solutions can reduce flood risks and build long-term resilience.
“Nature does a really good job all by itself in how it adapts to the external conditions, like storms and sea level rise,” said Bilskie, who was named the Fred C. Davison Early Career Scholar at UGA’s 2025 Research Awards.
Rather than defaulting to conventional infrastructure like concrete seawalls, he studies how natural features—marsh grasses, oyster reefs, and coastal vegetation—can stabilize coastlines and buffer storm impacts. These features not only absorb wave energy and prevent erosion but also provide habitat for marine life, protect various plants and animals, clean the water, and support local economies.
“Dunes, marshes, mangroves—we can engineer features to mimic nature, or use nature itself,” Bilskie said. “For example, we can ‘engineer’ landscapes that would be suitable for marsh grass to grow—putting it in natural areas where marsh grass doesn’t exist or is threatened but create an environment so it would have a high likelihood of existing. These types of natural features provide tremendous value to local economies. For example, they provide natural beauty which brings in tourism, they enhance habitat for game fish and other critters, mitigate flooding, and marshes can remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere.”
Innovative approaches to flood risk and adaptation
To achieve its goals, Bilskie’s lab uses a combination of computer modeling, fieldwork, and economic analyses with assistance of UGA’s Institute for Resilient Infrastructure Systems (IRIS). Founded and directed by Bledsoe, UGA Athletic Association Professor in Resilient Infrastructure, IRIS pioneers engineering approaches that unite natural and traditional infrastructure to support sustainable local resilience.
As natural hazards become more frequent and severe, Bilskie’s flood modeling tools are used by government agencies, emergency managers, and community leaders to improve forecasting, policy, and disaster preparedness and response. His team’s work is contributing to more accurate and nuanced flood risk assessments than traditional storm surge models.
“We’re accounting for more of the true hazard rather than just the storm surge itself, and for some of the uncertainties,” he said. This includes gray areas that often define whether a property is in a floodplain and could impact flood insurance policies, including their cost.
Bilskie’s real-time hydrodynamic models inform emergency management decisions, like whether to evacuate an area or fortify local homes and businesses before an approaching storm, as well as decision made during subsequent recovery operations. In partnership with the U.S. Marine Corps, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, and U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Bilskie’s models also assist in flood-mitigation planning for coastal military installations.
Bilskie is especially excited about a project funded by the U.S. Coastal Research Program that initially faced some unexpected fieldwork challenges.
“We had grand ideas to put out a wide array of sensors in a marsh setting so we could understand how water moves within and across coastal marshes,” he explained. “But it is challenging to walk hundreds of feet in the marsh mud and neck-high vegetation to install the sensors.”
“What I’m excited about is that we’ve developed new methods to deploy our sensors via aerial drones, so we can be very strategic about where they’re placed but also not have to walk through and disturb the marsh.”
This solution, like much of Bilskie’s research, required interdisciplinary teamwork.
“My Ph.D. student designed and 3D-printed, in collaboration with our manufacturing colleagues, a tripod device that the drone will carry, and the sensor will be attached to that tripod,” he said.
Once deployed, the dozen or so sensors will stay for about a month, collecting data on marsh response to water-level changes from tides and storms.
‘Mentoring is a huge part of the fun’
With six doctoral and three master’s students, mentorship is a central part of Bilskie’s role—a responsibility he finds both rewarding and enjoyable. His style balances guidance and flexibility, adjusting to each student’s needs and progress and supporting creative exploration while ensuring his students progress toward their project goals and graduation.
He also gratefully acknowledges the students and researchers whose diligence and dedication drive the success of the COAST lab and IRIS.
Bilskie also encourages and models work-life balance as a devoted husband to his wife, Lauren, and proud father to Graham (7), Emma Kate, and Brooks (3). He holds his family close, honoring the memory of Emma Kate, who passed away unexpectedly at a young age. Drawing from his faith and personal experiences, he emphasizes the importance of life outside the lab.
“For me, I don’t want to spend my life chasing the wind—or look back and regret not having led my family with love, integrity, and wisdom in a way that honors Christ,” he said.
Motivated by a passion for mentorship and environmental responsibility, Bilskie is guiding the next generation of researchers while advancing work that protects and strengthens communities and ecosystems. His philosophy is simple yet profound: “Be a good steward of our Earth.”
