US-Benin Cooperative Activity: Research Opportunities in Water Resources for Undergraduate Engineering / Geoscience Students

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Silliman 0526128This project involves undergraduate scientists/engineers working with peers in Benin, West Africa, and focuses on management of water resources through international collaborative research. The Notre Dame students will prepare for this effort during the 2005/6 academic year; training will include hydrologic techniques, statistics, social science methodologies, and language skills. They will travel to Benin to complete, in collaboration with Beninoise graduate students, both a geostatistics course and a research project on water quality in rural Benin. The students will continue their research through the following academic year in collaboration (via the internet) with their peers in Benin. The research addresses: (i) identifying source(s) of contamination, (ii) enabling the local population to develop a groundwater monitoring program, and (iii) analyzing and writing up the resulting data. This project will strengthen international collaboration between U.S. and African researchers and engineers. The students will benefit in two primary ways: (i) completion of a research experience and (ii) working with international peers in a developing country. Both benefits will strengthen the educational experience of these students. In addition, this work will be shared with K-8 students in the U.S. via an ongoing computer exchange program between Indiana and Benin. Specifically, grade-school students will hear presentations by the undergraduates involved in this project and will be guided by these undergraduates in preparing appropriate materials to be shared with their peers in Benin.