Rhea Thompson

Rhea Thompson is a Ph.D. student in the Marine Estuarine Environmental Sciences Graduate Program at the University of Maryland, College Park. She is evaluating the green infrastructure benefits of WaterShed, a sustainable solar house designed by University of Maryland researchers for the U.S. Department of Energy’s 2011 Solar Decathlon competition, in which the house won first place. Her research interests are in understanding the effects of climate, vegetation, building, and design on green infrastructure benefits (e.g., wastewater treatment, stormwater retention, energy savings) as well as in bridging socioeconomic disparities in green infrastructure accessibility. In her spare time, Rhea travels back and forth to the Caribbean where she enjoys celebrating the local Carnival, visiting family and the beach, and hiking to waterfalls. While in Grenada this summer, she snorkeled in the world’s first underwater sea sculpture park.

Fellowship Experiences Blog Posts

See Rhea's post to Fellowship Experiences, Maryland Sea Grant's blog written by and about graduate fellows and their research:

• "Ecology Meets Design: Green Roofs and Sustainable Communities"