Benjamin Curran, a historic preservation instructor at Edgecombe Community College,
has received a grant from the National Geographic Society to study the impact of
climate change on coastal cultural heritage sites.

Strawberry Banke in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, and Edgecombe Community College are worlds apart, but thanks to Benjamin Curran, they’re linked by the planet’s rising sea level. Curran, a historic preservation instructor at the college, was recently awarded a $15,000 grant to study climate change on coastal cultural heritage sites.  “I’m looking at the ramifications in particular that the rising sea level has on structures and also buried archaeology,” he says. “What I bring to the table is historic preservation.” The National Geographic Society Waitt grant was awarded to Curran and Michael Rothier and Gopal Mulukutla, two research scientists at the University of New Hampshire’s Institute for the Study of Earth, Oceans, and Space.  About 150 grants already have been awarded for projects on six continents – from Mongolia to Mexico.

Curran developed his idea about three years ago while working on a University of New Hampshire historic registry project at a 19th-century fort along the New Hampshire coastline. A Plymouth State University graduate student at the time, he noticed how dramatically seawater was deteriorating concrete at the site. “I started thinking about what will happen to other historic sites in close proximity to the coast as the sea level rises,” he says.  He applied for the grant with his eyes on Strawberry Banke, a 10-acre historic district inside a coastal community established in the late 1600s. The grant money will be used for travel and to establish water level data sites in Strawberry Banke to monitor how the rising sea levels affect the centuries-old buildings there.  “Storm surges give you an idea what will happen long term,” Curran says.

An International Arctic Monitoring and Assessment Program study in May predicted a rise in sea levels of 35 to 63 inches by 2100. As levels rise, saltwater is pushed further inland, causing a mixture of freshwater and saltwater to rise higher in the ground, thus affecting structures along the coast.   “Saltwater is very corrosive, and most foundations of older structures are made of stone and mortar,” Curran says. “The big question is not how do we save everything, but what do we save.”  Curran’s vision of the project doesn’t end with Strawberry Banke. In fact, once he arrived at Edgecombe Community College six months ago, he found more opportunities to study the effects of the deterioration of historic buildings right on campus.
 
The Norfleet House, a 200-year-old structure moved to the college in 2009, enables historic preservation students at the college to have hands-on experience in restoring an old structure. For Curran, it was a chance to see what he calls the “pathology” of a building.  He likes what he does to a medical examiner who studies the affects of external forces on a human body. But instead of looking at internal organs, arteries, veins, and skin, Curran looks at wood siding, plumbing, electrical systems, and foundations.  “The Norfleet House is the perfect place for me to further my understanding of the deterioration of building materials,” he says.
 
His long-term plan is to develop a model for other researchers to use so that more sites around the world can be studied. After the Strawberry Banke study is completed, he wants to move his research to the Yucatan Peninsula to look at Mayan ruins. After that, Edenton, Bath, or New Bern in North Carolina could be a good fit, he says.  “The nice thing about this project is that no one has done anything like it in the United States,” Curran adds. “The only others who have done this are in Europe.”