Arianna makes her mark on Grounded

During my time as in intern at Grounded Strategies, I had the opportunity to meet the amazing people that work to make Pittsburgh a better place.  I started out not knowing much about green stormwater infrastructure (GSI) and most of what was going on in the office went over my head. But after some time, I started learning a lot about Pittsburgh’s stormwater management issues and exactly what Grounded was doing to help. 

While I was there, I got to see the different jobs that each person had, and how they each contributed uniquely to what the organization was doing as a whole. I learned about GSI features like rain gardens and green roofs and how these features could be used to help various Pittsburgh neighborhoods with managing their rainwater.  During the last few weeks,

I had the opportunity to design and build my own gnome home with a GSI feature. This project and the other work I did as an intern has given me a variety of new skills I can use as I transition into my life as a student at Chatham University’s Falk School of Sustainability. Working at Grounded has given me the chance to see what nonprofit organizations do to help our city become more sustainable and green, and it has also given me tools I can use the next five years as a student and beyond.