I joined the Engineers without Borders Purdue Chapter in January 2023, under the Louisana Team. Partnering with the Grand Caillou/Dulac band of Biloxi-Chitimacha-Choctaw, an indigenous community just off the bayou, the goal was to develop a solution to a food desert that has developed in the area. Due to the extreme weather conditions during hurricane season and the salt-infiltrated soil, it is very difficult to establish a productive crop. This has forced the community to rely on produce that has been shipped in, raising the price to unsustainable heights, or on heavily processed goods which has a negative effect on their long-term health. The goal of our project was to develop a community garden that could produce crops despite the poor soil, flooding, and high winds. 

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The solution my team developed included raised garden beds built on floating docks, protected by a reinforced greenhouse. From January to April of 2023 the team developed a phase 1 design that we would then build at scale on-site in Louisiana to be tested over the summer and fall. 

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In August of 2023, I took over as Design Lead of the project. Taking the information gathered over the summer I led my team in updating and further developing the design. We doubled the growing area, integrated a gravity fed irrigation system, and included an industrial grade greenhouse to replace the temporary one that was in place. In March of 2024 I lead a group of nine students and  two faculty on a four day implimentation trip where we built phase 2 of the design which is currently still in use by our clients.