Aidan Matthews ’24

Major

Civil and Environmental Engineering

Project Title

Water Use Strategy in Plants

My project examined the theory of optimization in plants. With the support of advisers, particularly Professor Amilcare Porporato, I surveyed and identified gaps in the literature, and attended an ecohydrology graduate school in Italy, where I learned about different areas of ecohydrology. Learning about the impact of plants and water on society expanded my view of the field and its applications. I enjoyed using my knowledge to explore possible explanations for the different strategic responses to water stress and exploring the potential to predict evaporative cooling via an optimization model. This internship has helped cement my passion for research and my decision to continue my studies in a related field through a doctoral degree.



Internship Year

2023

Project Category

Climate and Environmental Science

Organization(s)

Porporato’s Research Group, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Princeton University

Mentor(s)

Amilcare Porporato, Thomas J. Wu ’94 Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering and the High Meadows Environmental Institute, Princeton University; Sara Cerasoli, Ph.D. candidate, Civil and Environmental Engineering, Princeton University; Gabriel Katul, Paul M. Gross Distinguished Professor, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Duke University; Saverio Perri, Visiting Research Scholar, Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Princeton University