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Environmental Sciences major Hannah Darensbourg 鈥�22 CLAS wasn鈥檛 about to let COVID-19 stand in the way of her summer research. And the work she鈥檚 managed to accomplish in challenging circumstances may shed new light on climate change, global warming and issues of equity.

Awarded a summer 2020 棉花糖直播 Undergraduate Research Fellowship, Hannah was slated to work in 棉花糖直播鈥檚 research garden, the 棉花糖直播 Consortium for Agricultural Research and Education. Instead, she found herself fabricating and installing beds of her own on the rooftop of her brownstone apartment building in Harlem, New York.

As part of her experiment, 鈥淚deal Plant Type and Watering Conditions for a Green Roof Garden,鈥�

Hannah is testing the viability of an artificial green roof substrate for three types of native plants and examining their growth response under a series of water conditions. In addition, she is testing how the green roof itself moderates temperature.

The initial challenge was that Hannah鈥檚 rooftop is accessible by only a narrow ladder, making it extremely difficult to transport garden boxes. Hannah made three trips to Home Depot in Yonkers, New York鈥攖he closest outlet open during the major outbreak of COVID-19 in New York City this past spring鈥攁nd purchased wood which she painstaking hauled up the ladder onto the rooftop, where she began building her garden boxes.

As New Yorkers sheltered in place and the entire world learned of the tremendous hardships the city was facing, Hannah got down to business. 鈥淚 had never really built anything before, but due to COVID-19 they couldn鈥檛 cut the wood for me at Home Depot, so I figured out an alternative plan,鈥� she says.

鈥淗annah has the mind of an engineer,鈥� says Hannah鈥檚 faculty mentor, Steven Goldsmith, PhD, associate professor of Geography and the Environment. 鈥淪he truly thinks through issues with project design and monitoring.鈥�

What鈥檚 especially important about Hannah鈥檚 work is there has not been a great deal of rooftop experiments conducted in the Northeast US, so fresh research isn鈥檛 readily available. She built four garden beds and planted them with two different kinds of plants, varying the watering frequency to determine their ability to survive rooftop conditions such as direct sun and lack of water. Hannah plans to continue with her passion for urban ecology research and will present her findings at the VURF poster session next spring.聽

鈥淒uring our weekly online meetings, I was amazed by Hannah鈥檚 level of preparation,鈥� Dr. Goldsmith says. 鈥淪he鈥檇 already thought through the questions I was going to ask. Personally, I feel Hannah's project epitomizes the ingenuity and perseverance of our undergraduate students.鈥�