Framing chaos: Exploring the complex influences and outcomes of urban flooding

UMBC: Center for Urban Environmental Research and Education

Spring 2026 Seminar Series 

virtually presents

Kim Grove, P.E.

Baltimore City Department of Public Works

 “Framing chaos: Exploring the complex influences and outcomes of urban flooding”

Friday, April 17, 2026

2:00 PM online

WebEx Link

This seminar series is free and open to the public.

Abstract

There are multiple ways to model stormwater but there is no one single model that can capture the complex nature of stormwater and its effect on flooding and ecosystem health. With increased investments in stormwater management, it is essential to understand these complexities in order to ensure that the potential solutions will address the storms of today and tomorrow. This presentation will review a visual framework that Baltimore has developed, in collaboration with the Baltimore Social-Environmental Collaboration (BSEC) in order to identify the model input variables and outcome relationships to consider in data gathering, stormwater modeling, and solution planning efforts.

Bio

Kim Grove is a professional engineer, whose 30 years of experience engineering in stormwater management, land development design, geotechnical engineering, and environmental site assessment and remediation. A graduate of the Florida Institute of Technology, Ms. Grove spent the first half of her career as a private engineering consultant working throughout the Southeast and mid-Atlantic region, until she joined Baltimore City Department of Public Works in 2010 and has served as the City’s MS4 permit manager. Ms. Grove currently serves as the Chief for the Office of Research and Environmental Protection, which is committed to improving the environmental conditions of the City through collaboration, planning, regulatory enforcement, and science-based, adaptive management processes. 

Ms. Grove has worked with the Urban Waters Federal Partnership Actionable Science Committee, the Baltimore Ecosystem Study (BES), the Baltimore Social-Environmental Collaborative (BSEC), and many of the region’s academic researchers to integrate scientific research with policy and planning decisions for the Department. Since 2022, Ms. Grove has co-chaired the Flooding and Infrastructure working group of the Mayor’s Sustainability and Resiliency Subcabinet, and has contributed to multiple publications related to flooding, green stormwater infrastructure, and climate change. Finally, she is a technical advisor for the DPW’s initiative to create a City-wide hydraulic and hydrology model for 1,100+ miles of the public storm sewer system.

Host: 

Claire Welty
Director, Center for Urban Environmental Research and Education