Advisory Bodies

NICHE has two independent bodies who provide invaluable insight to the NICHE design process: (1) the Advisory Board selected by NICHE Team, and (2) a Technical Review Committee commissioned by NSF. Beyond these two bodies, NSF convenes annual site visits with independent reviewers to ensure the project is progressing satisfactorily.

Advisory Board

This body represents the natural hazards research and practice community, charged with ensuring that the most pressing research needs are being identified and addressed by the NICHE Team. Members ensure that the performance requirements for NICHE are well-aligned with the goal of windstorm hazard (wind-wave-surge-flood) impacts mitigation.

Anne Cope

Bill Coulbourne

Horia Hangan

Steven Hughes

Ahsan Kareem

John W. Knezevich

Rick Luettich

Kishor Mehta 

Richard Mercier 

Karthik Ramanathan

Amy Robertson

Jane Smith

Yukio Tamura

Technical Review Committee

This body serves as external technical reviewers on the physical aspects of the NICHE design, ensuring the specified capabilities are sufficient to realize the facility's vision. This committee also ensures that the NICHE design meets performance requirements and enables operational efficiency and safety.

Jewel Barlow

Yorgos Deskos

Jorge Martinez

Mori Nobuhito

Long Phan

Maryam Refan

Jacob Stolle