Michigan State University's team in the 2021 EPA Campus RainWorks Challenge has received an honorable mention award in the Master Plan Category.
The project was titled "Reimagining the Heart of Michigan State University," and was created by a team of students from different universities, including MSU Landscape Architecture Kyle Trautmann, as well as Joseph Jennings, an environmental science student at Iowa State, and Avery Smotherman, an environmental engineering student at Southern Methodist University.
The team was advised by MSU faculty members Jun-Hyun Kim and Wonmin Sohn, who were very excited about the team's success in this competition.
"The EPA National Campus RainWorks Challenge Competition is one of the most prestigious student design competitions at the national level. For this year, I am particularly thrilled that the winning project came from an inter-institutional collaborative effort led by Kyle, our senior and BLA/MED dual degree student," said Jun-Hyun Kim, a Landscape Architecture professor in the MSU School of Planning, Design and Construction. "The program is also excited that this is the second time we have brought this award to MSU over the past three years."
The project focused on 6 main goals for improving the quality of their site area. These included increasing green stormwater management practices, supporting social spaces using green infrastructure design, and improving the student experience through connectivity among different spaces on campus.
There was also a heavy emphasis on the Red Cedar River, with their plan proposing ideas for protecting its water quality by mitigating runoff, and incentivizing individuals to think more about water sustainability.
You can view the team's video of their submission at www.youtube.com/watch?v=w7qT6XhyknY.
Categories: Michigan, Education, Sustainable Agriculture, Weather