Research Library

In June 2023, the international boundary treaty governing the U.S.-Mexico border came under attack from Gov. Greg Abbott’s Operation Lonestar. In a new research paper, nonresident scholars Stephen Mumme and Regina M. Buono outline the treaty’s history and examine key issues — advising on merits of recent challenges and long-term implications for the binational relationship between the United States and Mexico.

Progress on the UN’s sustainable development goals — aimed at achieving peace and prosperity for all people and the planet — has been slow. However, fellow Harris A. Eyre and his co-authors explain how applying a brain capital framework could change the trajectory.

Six years after Hurricane Harvey deluged the Texas Gulf Coast, how exposed are Houston and Harris County to flooding risk? Jim Blackburn and Jennifer Borski examine key challenges and changes needed going forward.

This paper outlines proposals that integrate economic development and nature to address our region’s flood problems, as well as structural solutions that serve multiple purposes.

Hurricane surge flooding is often overlooked in Houston, yet it poses a significant threat to the region in the form of property damage and a potentially massive loss of life. Rice faculty scholar Jim Blackburn outlines this problem and possible solutions to mitigate surge flooding.

Building on the experiences of Hurricane Harvey, the authors present a summary of flooding issues in Harris County and discuss proposed local and federal projects in preparation for the upcoming flood bond election in August 2018.

In this paper, Jim Blackburn examines some of the major issues currently facing the city of Houston — flooding, the climate and carbon, and food supply — and explores possible policy solutions to these challenges.

This paper addresses the role of both the private sector and the public sector in altering Houston’s current situation relative to flooding.

Faculty scholar Jim Blackburn proposes a series of realistic ideas that can substantially reduce misery and damage the next time a catastrophic storm like Harvey tears through the Houston-Galveston area. 

This research paper examines the potential market for a system that would pay landowners to restore natural ecosystems, such as native prairies and oyster reefs, that protect the Gulf Coast from hurricane and severe storm damage.