ESP Biography



AUTUMN DEITRICK, MIT-WHOI Joint Program Graduate Student



Major: MIT-WHOI Joint Program, MIT CEE

College/Employer: MIT

Year of Graduation: G

Picture of Autumn Deitrick

Brief Biographical Sketch:

Autumn Deitrick is a second-year PhD student in the MIT-WHOI Joint Program in Applied Ocean Science and Engineering, where she is co-advised by Dr. Heidi Nepf (MIT) and Dr. David Ralston (WHOI). Prior to coming to MIT, she completed her B.S. in Civil Engineering at Penn State as a Schreyer Honors College Scholar. Her research focuses on understanding carbon storage in mangrove forests by studying how carbon containing sediment can be eroded and deposited in mangrove soils. Autumn enjoys organizing outreach and educational events through the MIT Water Club and giving back to programs that supported her by serving as a Schreyer Alumni Admissions Interviewer, MIT Summer Research Program Application Committee Member, and JP ASK Mentor. Outside of the lab, she enjoys running along the Charles River, unwinding with yoga, and exploring her creative side through watercolor painting and cooking!



Past Classes

  (Clicking a class title will bring you to the course's section of the corresponding course catalog)

E15185: Build with Nature: Experimenting with Coastal Ecosystems and Adaptations in Splash 2022 (Nov. 19 - 20, 2022)
Join MIT graduate students in a hands-on wave flume demonstration to learn more about how water waves interact with natural and man-made features near the coast. You will have the opportunity to design your own shoreline adaptation, choosing from a kit-of-parts that includes coastal defense measures from seagrass and oyster gabions (i.e., cages) to traditional seawalls. Pieces can be arranged in countless ways, allowing us to test various hypotheses, e.g. sparse vegetation vs. dense, or oyster gabion + vegetation vs. seawall as we work together to develop not only a greater physical intuition of water wave mechanics, but also an understanding of how various physical, ecological, and social processes in coastal regions are impacted by climate change. Students will meet teachers at 66-154 and be escorted to the new Learning Labs at the MIT Museum Building (just a 3-minute walk).


S15193: Making your own water filter in Splash 2022 (Nov. 19 - 20, 2022)
Learn about the importance of water filtration by making your own water filter out of household materials! We will test our water filters and discuss how they work, and learn about the history of water treatment and how we treat water today to make it safe for everyone to use. Students will meet teachers at 66-154 and be escorted to the new Learning Labs at the MIT Museum Building (just a 3-minute walk).


E14961: Making Your Own Water Filters in Spark 2022 (Mar. 12 - 13, 2022)
Interested in water? In this class, you will learn about different water treatment technologies and plastic pollution. By the end of the class, you will also get to leave with your own handmade water filter!