Date Time NSF challenges Cornell to tame winter, natural disasters Partnering with community organizations, Cornell researchers are developing and planning a hyperlocal weather forecasting system designed to improve winter-storm emergency response and enhance natural disaster coordination for New York state’s rural communities. Max Zhang, professor in Cornell’s Sibley School of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, will lead the federally funded effort this spring. The work is part of the new Civic Innovation Challenge, announced Feb. 17, an $11 million effort led by the National Science Foundation (NSF) in partnership with the U.S. Department of Energy and U.S. Department of Homeland Security. The four-month challenge seeks to empower communities to achieve necessary local weather and disaster solutions, so that one day such plans may be scaled up regionally or nationally.