Kyung Eun Lee ’25

Major

Undeclared

Project Title

High Water Mark: Rain Gardens as a Tool for Flood Mitigation

Presentation Link

View Kyung Eun's Presentation

High Water Mark is an ongoing research project dedicated to studying flooding issues in Princeton and Trenton, New Jersey. I conducted ethnographic interviews with local residents, Princeton affiliates, and local environmental organizations to learn more about the processes and relationships between local policy, environmental science and engineering, urban planning, and communal life as it relates to water. The goal of the project is to learn about residents’ perspectives on matters ranging from rainwater and flooding in their own houses, to local government participation, as well as more general ideas of sustainability, climate change, and the intersectionality of policy and nature. This project aims to provide more accessible education and information on the complexities of environmental science as it pertains to the individual via different methods, including creating rain garden brochures and documentary films to spread awareness. I found talking to local residents and learning about the local community to be extremely important, and a gratifying complement to other, more formal research; it is a grounding experience and motivates me to work harder toward meaningful goals. I look forward to continuing this research in the coming academic year, and hope to also include my experience from this project in my independent work.



Internship Year

2022

Project Category

Extreme Weather and Impacts

Organization(s)

VizE Lab for Ethnographic Data Visualization, Department of Anthropology, Princeton University - Princeton, New Jersey; Trenton, New Jersey

Mentor(s)

Jeffrey Himpele, Director, VizE Lab for Ethnographic Data Visualization and Lecturer in Anthropology; Carolyn Rouse, Ritter Professor of Anthropology