About
Born and raised in Central Pennsylvania surrounded by streams, Autumn Deitrick became captivated by the changing riverine landscape around her. Determined to understand the mechanisms underlying these environmental changes, she pursued her B.S. in Civil Engineering at Penn State and S.M. in Civil and Environmental Engineering through the Massachusetts Institute of Technology – Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution Joint Program.
She sees water as nature’s artist – constantly sculpting our landscapes through processes of erosion and deposition, which she studied through experimental environmental fluid mechanics research during her B.S. and S.M. degrees. Water and flowing elements are prevalent themes in her artwork, and she uses mixed media to create surreal images that blend her outer and inner worlds without boundaries.
Autumn brings an artist’s mindset into her work as an engineer and is currently a National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellow at Penn State, where her research focuses on enhancing the creative climate of graduate-level engineering education.
News
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MIT CEE Alumni Spotlight
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![Your future is unwritten: approaching fellowship applications as a chance to dream]()
Your future is unwritten: approaching fellowship applications as a chance to dream
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![How my journey to the Philippines brought me to MIT]()
How my journey to the Philippines brought me to MIT
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![Recent graduate bringing research experience to MIT grad program]()
Recent graduate bringing research experience to MIT grad program
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![Advice from many at Penn State led new engineering alumna to fellowship success]()
Advice from many at Penn State led new engineering alumna to fellowship success
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![Two Penn State undergraduates win Goldwater Scholarships]()
Two Penn State undergraduates win Goldwater Scholarships
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![Schreyer Honors College to host sustainability-minded entrepreneur]()
Schreyer Honors College to host sustainability-minded entrepreneur
Leadership
2022 Cambridge Science Festival
I helped to co-lead and design a hands-on wave flume demonstration that allowed participants to learn about water wave mechanics and the way coastal ecosystems protect our shorelines in the face of global climate change.
2021 MIT Water Summit
I co-directed the MIT Water Summit, a two-day conference, during my first semester at MIT! The summit explored topics related to coastal ecosystems, cities, agriculture, and governance.
