As a graduate student in the Helmuth Lab at Northeastern University, I am interested in the potential of hybrid gray-green infrastructure to produce win-win scenarios for both people and nature, particularly in addressing projected risks from climate change and restoring functional marine ecosystems in urban waterways.

 

I am structuring my research to generate data on how the characteristics of the land-water interface can be strategically designed to facilitate ecosystem functioning, maximize ecosystem service benefits, and create equity in public access and enjoyment for local communities. Using Chelsea Creek (Chelsea, MA) as a coupled human-natural study system, I have been studying urban coastal hazards from climate change, water-dependent uses of the urban waterfront, and restoration ecology, and how their intersection can help inform the application of marine ecological principles in shoreline design. 

 

Throughout my experience in graduate school, I aim to internalize the technologies, strategies and players at the forefront of coastal development and resilience infrastructure, understand the socioeconomic landscape for implementation of these ideas, and identify opportunities for future research directions in the unique realm of urban marine intertidal ecology. Upon completion of my degree, my ideal position would be working in collaboration with a coastal engineering or landscape architecture firm to design coastal infrastructure in the most ecologically informed and supportive way possible.