the packery channel hydrodynamic model is an ongoing effort of the conrad blucher institute at texas a&m university corpus christi. packery channel connects the corpus christi bay to the gulf of mexico and is important environmentally and economically to the region, and the united states army corps of engineers sponsored a monitoring program to better understand the channel dynamics.
during my final year as an undergraduate, i was brought in as a research intern under dr philippe tissot shortly after the landfall of hurricane harvey, and our research group focused on a hindcast model using data obtained during the storm. i improved upon a mesh grid method to model the turbulent ebb flow during the storm, and our results accurately represented the storm conditions and the extent of the damage along the channel. the application of our model was additionally part of a larger effort to assess the impact of the storm in order to petition the federal emergency management association for disaster aid, and on september 14, 2021, the city officially received an award and began the packery channel restoration project.