Biodiversity can be increased by planting a variety of native plants, using a variety of sized rocks and nature-based structures (such as reef balls) to increase habitat.
Designing for biodiversity provides many ecosystem services such as improved water quality, habitat, connectivity and urban cooling. This graphic series explores engineering with nature landscape architecture that promotes biodiversity on coastal infrastructure. Planting native trees and vegetation, using a variety of rock sizes and connecting people to the water can enhance coastal infrastructure. This project was conducted in partnership with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, the Network for Engineering with Nature, the College of Engineering’s Institute for Resilient Infrastructure, the College of Environment + Design, and the Carl Vinson Institute of Government.
For this project, I served as lead designer. I created a graphic structure and provided guidance to two students who helped render different practices. As a team, we worked with researchers and engineers. We drafted designs and modifications, discussed them with engineers and provided graphic renderings. The renderings were developed through to scale AutoCAD drafting, Rhino 3D modeling, photoshopped renderings, Illustrator graphics and layout in InDesign. The final set of graphics were used for a journal article and a technical series for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.
As landscapes change and infrastructure fails, communities are faced with decisions about how to protect their communities: fix failed infrastructure, or build back better.