Flocking Archipelago is a proposal of adaptive techniques for mitigating environmental degradation within the Great Lakes that results from high nutrient loads and sedimentation. The great lakes currently suffer from disruptive algal blooms linked to elevated levels of nitrogen and phosphorus within lake waters; sediment loading; high turbidity; and reduced biodiversity. Current management plans seeking to address these issues focus on point source practices and land based interventions, but there are few end-of-pipe, in-stream reduction strategies that target the issue of nutrient conveyance in dense urban areas where land-based practices are difficult and costly to implement. Flocking Archipelago is an in-stream collection of floating wetlands that actively work in concert to reduce levels of suspended nutrients.

Proposal developed in collaboration with Kevin Mindl and Nicolas Azel.