IS BUILDING A STRIP MALL ON A BROWNFIELD IN A FLOOD PLAIN A GOOD IDEA? A COMMUNITY-ENGAGEMENT PROJECT

To challenge the students beyond the comfort of campus, I developed a community-engagement project that paired an upper-level Hydrology class and the City Environmental Planning Office. The semester-long project looked at the hydrological impacts of developing a shopping center on an 84-acre brownfield located in a flood plain. The students were interested in determining what data would help the Commissioners make educated decisions about the development. The students identified the following goals: 1. To provide the City of Rome with base-line hydrologic data, 2. To predict impacts on the watershed as a result of an increase in impermeable surface, and 3. To suggest innovative strategies for the developers to incorporate into the project design. The research combined fieldwork and watershed modeling based on empirical parameters identified for the area based on environmental characteristics of the landscape.

The community-engagement project had numerous benefits and provided an invaluable learning experience for the students. The students worked on a real-world problem in a real-world situation. In addition to the importance of learning how to use a wide-variety of field equipment, the students also gained a firsthand perspective of how a local government operates. They also learned the importance of being flexible in a field-setting; especially when there are unforeseen changes in weather or problems with equipment. Back in the classroom we addressed other challenges: What happens when you are missing historical data sets?, How, exactly, are we going to define empirical coefficients for the area?, What statistical methods are best used with our data sets?, How will we communicate an empirical model to people without a science background?

The students presented the results of this project twice. The first presentation was at a City Council meeting where the Mayor of Rome and the City Commissioners were in attendance. The second presentation was at a River Development Committee meeting. In addition to the attendance of the commissioners, the project developers were invited.

All parties involved with the community-engagement project won: the students gained valuable experience, the City of Rome gained a scientific perspective to help with land use planning, and the professor made new contacts beyond the College.