Braeden Carroll ’26
Civil and Environmental Engineering
Super Typhoon Haiyan — Public Imaginaries and Lived Legacies
I worked with a small team within the Blue Lab to synthesize lessons learned in the 10-year recovery process since Super Typhoon Haiyan, a devastating tropical cyclone in the Philippines. This research involved interviewing government officials, academics, nongovernmental organization leaders and storm survivors, as well as visiting resettlement villages, weather forecasting stations and disaster memorials. From this research, we aimed to build a podcast to share the perspectives, experiences and voices of those affected by the storm. During our fieldwork in the Philippines, I alternated between the roles of interviewer, sound engineer, note taker and photographer. After the audio collection process, I created a seven-minute trailer for the podcast, which I presented to high school students as part of a science communication outreach program. Through this experience, I learned how to communicate research findings and ideas more effectively and I also gained significant experience in media editing and production, which are important skills in an increasingly digital world. I am glad I got to explore the impact of the environment in this creative way, and it has reaffirmed my desire to study civil and environmental engineering and understand how humanity interacts with natural and built environments.
2023
Water and the Environment
Blue Lab, Effron Center for the Study of America, Princeton University - Princeton, New Jersey; Guiuan, Philippines; Manila, Philippines; Tacloban, Philippines
Allison Carruth, Professor of American Studies and the High Meadows Environmental Institute; Reed Maxwell, William and Edna Macaleer Professor of Engineering and Applied Science, Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering and the High Meadows Environmental Institute; Mario Soriano, Postdoctoral Research Associate, High Meadows Environmental Institute