Penn group wins EPA Campus RainWorks Challenge

Corey Wills, LPS’21, GFA’22, leads a team that won the United States Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) ninth annual Campus RainWorks Challenge, a national competition that engages college students in the design of green infrastructure solutions to address stormwater pollution.

Wills and her team won first place in the demonstration project category, which focuses on how green infrastructure can address stormwater pollution at a specific site on campus or local elementary, junior high, or high schools. Their project, “Growing Together,” is led by Corey Wills, who is enrolled in the Master of Environmental Studies and Master of City Planning programs, and includes a range of partners.

Their entry proposes a redesign of the Andrew Hamilton School campus in West Philadelphia to incorporate a variety of green infrastructure practices, including raised garden beds and a food forest. Extensive stakeholder engagement within the community led to a realistic design that would manage stormwater runoff on-site, connect students to their watershed, and help address food insecurity. The Andrew Hamilton School supported the team’s vision and will move forward with project construction this spring.

“The students at Hamilton are very excited to have these tools that can cool the grounds to make campus a safer place to play in the summer, provide STEM education opportunities, and offer a food source for the community,” says Wills, who is a watershed resource analyst at the Water Center.

Read the full announcement here.