NSF Virtual REU Update (Week 5)

Written by Cali Carter, 2021 NSF REU Scholar

Hello! 

We’re heading into the last week of our summer research, and it has flown by faster than I could have imagined.

After diving into literature and past REU teams’ data, the Flood Team had innumerable questions and activity ideas emerge in our brainstorm sessions- if only our time in Hopkins was just as infinite! Nonetheless, we have spent this past week setting ourselves up for efficient and flexible fieldwork by developing data collection methods that supplement one another and aim to highlight a wide array of community perspectives. 

One of the most rewarding components of this time together has been the opportunity to truly design the research content, from start to finish. As a team, we’ve taken a specific interest in the public health and safety aspects of flood management, and are exploring the possibility of creating a “Flood Health Index” to quantify and communicate changes in infrastructure over time. While generating plans for this system, each team member has taken the initiative to research features of our individual interest such as architecture, epidemiology, wetland ecology, gender inequality, and transportation.

The past five weeks of research have been truly transformative for me as I develop my identity as a science communicator. Each day I’ve been struck by how lucky I am to be working with such passionate teammates and mentors who challenge me to take on leadership roles within our projects and meet the unexpected challenges that arise while doing so.

Planning our last official week of zoom meetings definitely feels bittersweet, but I’ll be counting down the days until we reconvene in Hopkins.