Shelby Kinch ’23

Major

Anthropology

Project Title

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

Presentation Link

View Shelby's Presentation

Certificate(s): Linguistics

My project focused on the use of rain gardens as tools for mitigating floods and improving water quality. Rain gardens are an example of green infrastructure, a type of infrastructure that utilizes natural processes to manage flooding. The benefits of rain gardens include flood mitigation, the restoration of native plant ecosystems, and improvements to water quality. However, many resources on rain gardens are difficult to access and are often highly technical. My goal was to learn more about rain gardens and the specific resources available related to them, and to then translate this knowledge into a deliverable guide for local residents. I researched local plants and compiled a list of local experts who had worked on rain gardens previously, who I then interviewed. I used this information to design a Princeton rain garden guide, poster, and website to market information on rain gardens in an accessible way. I gained experience with ethnographic research, filmmaking, design, and data visualization. The challenge of this project was to market environmental concepts in a way that was both engaging and widely accessible. This project has inspired me to look into careers in environmental marketing that explore the intersection of public affairs, communications, and environmental science.



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