Six DePaul Environmental Studies students were awarded a $15,000 grant Oct. 24 by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) for developing a soil quality tool to sustain urban infrastructure.
Kate Vollrath, Allison Williams, Christian DeKnock, Katy Rico, Yarency Rodriguez and Ellen Webb were the DePaul team recipients for the 2013 EPA’s People, Prosperity and the Planet (P3) Phase I grants. With the help of environmental science professors Christie Klimas and James Montgomery, the DePaul team is working towards funding a project to revitalize Chicago innercity communities.
“We wanted to reach out to a community in need,” Klimas said. “The idea is to make them a potential resource to the community and teach about soil quality.”
The group is embarking on a project entitled “Community-based Soil Quality Assessment as a Tool for Designing an Urban Green Infrastructure Network to Manage Runoff.” The grant will give the opportunity to create a soil quality assessment product to assist urban green initiatives. This design can ultimately assist inner-city communities and reduce erosion caused by storm-water runoff.
According to Montgomery, the project began in 2012 through the Discover DePaul summer program where two DePaul environmental studies students, DeKnock and Xochyl Perez, partnered up with Gary Comer Youth Center students interested in environmental science and mentored them on science technology and math. He said the program not only strengthened ties between DePaul University and Gary Comer Center, but it also showed how impactful education can be in assisting minority organizations. Programs such as Discover DePaul increased his passion in helping create a tool to improve infrastructure of these urban communities.
EPA Project officer of the P3 program, Greg Lank, said the DePaul project is essential because it holds a social and environmental value. “Environmentally it cuts down on erosion, but there’s also a social environmental justice component as well because it’s incorporating the communities involved,” he said.
The EPA P3 program is a college competition that seeks ideas and solutions to create a sustainable environment. DePaul is one of the 40 teams of graduate and undergraduate students awarded the grant this year. The next phase for the competition takes place in April, where teams will bring their designs to the National Sustainable Design Expo in Washington, D.C. There, the teams will further compete for the P3 award with the hopes of receiving $90,000 to apply their ideas to the real world.