Image of a diverse group students working on STEM projects together with the text "Connecting STEM with Social Justice" and the magazine "Issues" logo
12 Mar 2024

eDD Founder on STEM & Diversity

eDesignDynamic founder Franco Montalto was honored to have been invited to comment on the article “To Make Science and Engineering More Diverse, Make Research Socially Relevant” written by Nilanjana Dasgupta and published in ISSUES IN SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY, a journal of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine.

In his comments HERE, Franco called attention to the importance of training STEM students in how to work in diverse cultural contexts so they can build trust and ultimately be successful in using science to advance sustainability and resilience goals.

Read Dasgupta’s article and all invited responses HERE >
1 Mar 2024

Youth Education on Flooding in Sag Harbor

During a rain event in the early Fall of 2023, cars stalled and people had to be rescued from a flooded parking lot in the center of the village of Sag Harbor on Long Island. The surrounding land for a square mile drains into that exact area. As a result, water — either as rainfall or tidally — eventually makes its way via the streets and overland to that parking lot.
 
So Eric Rothstein (eDD’s very own Managing Partner) recently joined Anthony Madonna (the Patti Kenner Director of Learning + New Works at Guild Hall of East Hampton) and architect Nilay Oza (founding partner of Oza Sabbeth Architects in the Hamptons) for a panel discussion on stormwater management through natural systems and climate preparedness before a youth education class. The talk focused as much on the importance of community engagement as on technical solutions. The group discussed various community efforts to bring awareness about the growing problem of water inundation in the village parking lot.
 
*image via riskfactor.com*
Charts showing successful prevention of stormwater from entering Brooklyn Botanic Garden's sewer systerm.
20 Jan 2024

Keeping Stormwater Out of Sewer Systems

Here’s an example of eDD’s work in action: The real-time control system we developed and installed at the Brooklyn Botanic Garden prevented nearly 287,000 gallons of stormwater from entering the combined sewer system during the storm on Tuesday, January 9, 2024, that dropped 1.65 inches of rain! The monitoring data integrated into the system allowed us to gauge performance immediately after the storm.

FIFTH NATIONAL CLIMATE ASSESSMENT
14 Nov 2023

The Fifth National Climate Assessment Is Released

The FIFTH NATIONAL CLIMATE ASSESSMENT was just released (November 14, 2023): READ THE ASSESSMENT HERE>>

eDD’s Franco Montalto is one of the authors of the NCA5’s chapter on climate impacts and action plans in the Northeast: READ THE NORTHEAST SECTION>>

You can catch VIDEO of the Fifth National Climate Assessment Rollout at the White House on YouTube. WATCH THE W.H. ROLLOUT>>

Finally, there’s an interactive ATLAS which taps into the power of maps and stories to share information from NCA5 and let Americans know how climate change is affecting their areas. USE THE ATLAS>>

Theater screen prsenting ASLA's Global Impact Award
1 Nov 2023

We’re “GLOBAL IMPACT AWARD” Winners!

EDD’s Eric Rothstein joined the landscape architecture firm @theolinstudio and the client Corporación del Proyecto ENLACE del Caño Martín Peña in receiving the GLOBAL IMPACT AWARD at this year’s annual ASLA award ceremony for the team’s work in Master Planning Caño Martín Peña in San Juan. The project will increase access to safe drinking water, flood protection, economic opportunities, safe housing, and open spaces. What an honor!

 

Eric Rothstein giving a talk at ASLA National Conference in 2023
30 Oct 2023

eDD Talk at ASLA’s National Conference

eDesign Dynamics’ Managing Partner, Eric Rothstein, presented on urban salt marsh restoration in a presentation entitled “Living Shorelines in Coastal Cities: Where and How to Build Them” at the American Society of Landscape Architects‘ national conference in Minneapolis at the end of October 2023. Eric was joined by SCAPE‘s Pippa Brashear and Indigo River’s Domenica Stasiak.

 

NYTimes image of a flooded street in NYC
3 Oct 2023

Our Founder on Why NYC Keeps Flooding

eDD’s Founder Franco Montalto was quoted in a recent New York Times article on the city’s ongoing flooding issues:

“It’s a really challenging problem to solve because we have this legacy infrastructure system and its capacity is being exceeded,” said Franco Montalto, a flooding expert and engineer. “You can either manage excess water underground or you manage it on the surface.”

Dr. Montalto cited an initiative in Copenhagen, where officials redesigned streets to hold water temporarily. Certain intersections, he explained, are depressed or sunken, to draw water away from neighborhoods and allow it to pool at a depth that is safe for cars to pass through. Eventually, the water runs off into parks and other green spaces.

Read the full NYTimes article here>

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