In this presentation, I documented an environmental research project aimed at challenging the conclusions of a 1997 state study that claimed the Gooseberry Island causeway, in Westport, MA, had no appreciable environmental impact. Working with a small team of citizen scientists, I hypothesized that the causeway disrupted tidal flow, resulting in sediment accumulation and impaired nitrogen flushing in the adjacent harbor. To test this, I engineered a custom, low-cost IoT-based pressure sensor system capable of measuring water level differences on either side of the causeway. I selected and integrated commercial off-the-shelf components—including a BMP180 pressure sensor, DS3231 real-time clock, and an Adafruit 32u4 microcontroller—and developed custom software to log timestamped pressure and temperature data at regular intervals. The device was designed to be submersible, battery-powered for multi-day deployment, and easy to calibrate and analyze using CSV outputs.
Through careful calibration, field testing, and multiple deployments in weighted, waterproof housings, I gathered consistent data showing that the west side of the causeway held back an average of six inches of water, peaking at twelve inches during tidal cycles. These findings confirmed a measurable disruption in tidal flow and provided strong evidence of redirected hydraulic energy—a classic groyne effect—contributing to beach erosion, sandbar formation and reduced water exchange. I also identified thermal anomalies suggesting complex temperature-tide dynamics worthy of further study.
By combining environmental science, hardware engineering, software development, and data analysis, I built a compelling, data-driven argument that the causeway does in fact have an appreciable environmental impact and merits renewed regulatory scrutiny.
