The EPA’s mission is to protect human health and the environment to ensure that Americans have clean air, land and water. The agency will be funding Qian’s project titled, “Conjunctive Deployment of Distributed Stormwater Infiltration and Bioretention Infrastructures to Mitigate Flooding and Related Non-point Source Pollution in Beaumont and Port Arthur, Texas.” Two green infrastructure systems will be built –– one of the two locations will be on campus at Lamar University.
“The outcome of this project can change the willingness to adopt, fund and implement green stormwater infrastructures at a large scale in Southeast Texas. This can inspire the next generation specializing in costal flood resiliency,” said Qian. She hopes to extend this research project to national infrastructure databases and build educational and outreach programs. These outreach programs would include community involvement, such as K-12 students and teachers, under-represented groups, non-profit organizations and local agencies.
Qian has always had an interest in green infrastructures. With this project, she believes that with a better understanding, people in Southeast Texas can work towards a pro-green future. Her projected outcome is to help the community understand and accept her plans using green infrastructures to promote less pollution and decrease flooding.
Dr. Qin Qian will be leading the project as principal investigator, along with Lamar University’s chair and professor of civil and environmental engineering, Dr. Liv Haselbach as co-principal investigator. This venture will include collaborations with engineers from other institutions including Dr. Yu Zhang, associate professor of civil engineering at University of Texas Arlington and Dr. William Shuster, chair and professor of civil and environmental engineering at Wayne State University.