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Just how immersed in the world of stormwater science are UNH students and Sustainability Institute interns Allison Kish and Annie Ragland? It sounds like perhaps their friends could offer some valuable insight on the matter.

Kish and Ragland have been performing stormwater testing and research at UNH as part of their sustainability work, assisting the university’s stormwater team in its efforts to keep surrounding community ecosystems – like the Great Bay Watershed – healthy and clean.

Porous pavers in front of Hood House, one of the sites frequently checked during stormwater testing.

That work requires them to regularly inspect stormwater sites all over campus, and it turns out it can be difficult to turn that site familiarity and awareness off even when they’re not on the clock.

“I’ll be walking around with friends and just be like, “Oh my gosh, that’s a bioretention site,” Ragland quips.

There is certainly no shortage of them on campus and beyond – Kish noted that there are about 650 stormwater installations in Durham. The duo is primarily focused on those that are above, though, like bioretention systems and permeable pavers. Some key sites on campus that filter pollutants include a rain garden behind Hamilton Smith Hall, porous pavers near Hood House, and porous pavement in the parking lot of the Elliott Alumni Center.

Kish and Ragland are responsible for making sure these sites and others are performing adequately and reaching out to the facilities team if they discover any issues. They also perform frequent outreach initiatives to keep the community informed about the sites and to encourage proper care of them.

“Part of the reason I joined UNH was because I know they have such a strong sustainability institute here, but realizing that our systems at UNH are so important to our local ecosystems, especially Great Bay, it made me really want to get involved in that,” Ragland says. “I found my love for stormwater and ecosystems through this internship.”

Kish was likewise drawn to UNH because of the strong focus on sustainability and has benefited from the breadth of experience she’s been able to gain.

“One of the reasons I chose UNH was because of all the sustainability programs. As a bioengineering major, I wanted to see how sustainability and science could be connected, and stormwater work was one of those things that bridge the two together,” Kish says.

As part of their work Kish and Ragland routinely head out to the various sites on campus, specifically the bioretention systems, to perform tests to make sure the water is infiltrating properly. But much of their work is qualitative – they will visit sites and ensure that there isn’t any unwanted vegetation in the area and that the space is clear of litter and debris.

Annie Ragland and Allison Kish at the rain garden behind Hamilton Smith Hall.

They will also occasionally work with facilities on wet weather sampling, which is when they visit sites during or just after heavy rainfall and collect water that can then be tested in a lab environment to look for any common pollutants.

During the winter, when they can’t conduct those same tests, the duo works on life cycle analysis, evaluating the equipment to determine its potential remaining life span and to help estimate any costs related to repair or replacement.

“What’s cool about UNH is we were one of the first places to really have these stormwater sites installed, but that means we are one of the first to experience them aging, so part of our job is to figure out how long these sites are lasting and to see cost analysis of how often we’ll have to replace them,” says Kish. “What we’ve seen is that they are actually performing pretty similar to how they did when they were first installed 10 to 15 years ago. But during the winter we’re able to take that data and start plugging it into a spreadsheet to see potential costs and things like that.”

All of the work is designed to make sure the systems are working properly and to enable the university to have a better handle on the health of various areas around campus and beyond.

“It’s really cool to see UNH working on real-world problems, and seeing how we can help problem-solve,” Ragland says. “Taking a lot of the information that I’ve learned here and in my classes and being able to apply that in this way is so incredible.”

Kish devoted a lot of her time in the last two years to the rain garden site behind Hamilton Smith, spearheading the charge to remove invasive plants that had crowded the area and replace them with native pollinator plants. She also coordinated a leaf raking event to keep the area clear.

“This site is going to last way beyond Annie’s and my time here, and it’s really cool to know I had a part in it,” Kish says. “I think about that every time I walk by.”

Beyond the environmental impact, the work has indeed left a lasting mark on the pair of interns, as well, both of whom have turned their passion for sustainability and interest in stormwater research into an experience that has shaped their time at UNH.

“Coming from high school, a lot of people who are really focused on sustainability never get to actually apply that, so coming to UNH was such a good way to start understanding how to apply all of these sustainability ideas and to kind of help make the world a better place,” Ragland says.