In this week’s episode of The Risky Science Podcast, we sit down with Dr. Paolo Bocchini, Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering at Lehigh University.
Dr. Bocchini is at the forefront of integrating academic research with real-world catastrophe modeling. As the director of Lehigh’s Center for Catastrophe Modeling and Resilience, and co-leader of the new Consortium for Enhanced Resilience and Catastrophe Modeling—a partnership with Rice University—he’s building something rare: a sustained, structured bridge between academia and the private sector.
In this conversation Dr. Bocchini argues that innovation in catastrophe risk modeling happens in silos. Academic researchers generate breakthroughs in multi-hazard science and structural vulnerability—but those insights don’t always make it into underwriting decisions, loss modeling platforms, or regulatory frameworks. Bocchini sees that gap as both a challenge and an opportunity.
“Research in academia and in the private sector has been progressing independently, with minimal interaction,” he says. “That results in duplicated efforts and lost opportunities for synergy.”
The newly launched consortium is designed to close that gap. Member companies, including insurers, reinsurers, utilities, and asset owners, actively collaborate with faculty and students, guiding projects that are both scientifically rigorous and immediately useful. The result is a model that produces tools, code, and processes that are meant to slot directly into industry workflows.
Themes in this episode:
- 🔁 Multi-hazard resilience and why "secondary perils are no longer secondary"
- 🧠 The use of surrogate models to bridge structural detail and system-scale simulation (e.g., from a single bolt to a full power grid)
- 📉 The challenge of non-stationarity in climate and how it affects short-term modeling
- 🛰️ How AI and machine learning are already replacing traditional wind tunnel tests and powering post-disaster reconnaissance
- 🏛️ The critical importance of high-quality data, especially as some federal climate datasets face uncertainty
- ⚖️ What it takes to translate academic models into professional practice—and why professional societies and regulatory bodies are key to that shift
Throughout the episode, Bocchini emphasizes that catastrophe modeling is not just about predicting the next event—it’s about informing real decisions. Whether it’s utilities investing in grid hardening, insurers underwriting portfolios, or public agencies planning long-term infrastructure, models need to reflect the increasing complexity of correlated and compounding risks.
And while the field faces enormous computational and epistemological challenges, Bocchini is optimistic—especially about the next generation of modelers:
“We launched the first graduate program in catastrophe modeling and resilience,” he says. “And the first thing we teach students is: What decision will this model support? That changes everything.”
🎧 Listen to the full episode here
🔗 More from Dr. Bocchini → Lehigh University profile
Episode Background Links
🔗 Lehigh Center for Catastrophe Modeling and Resilience
🔗 Consortium for Enhancing Resilience and Catastrophe modeling (Cercat)
🔗 American Society of Civil Engineers – Risk and Resilience
🔗 Rice University Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering
