International: Sustainable Water Management Research Experience in Bolivia: Influence of a Dynamic World on Technological and Societal Solutions

水管理是人类社会的基础，需要能够将水资源的文化、制度和国际层面与尖端技术和解决方案相结合的科学家和工程师。这一国际学生研究体验(IRES)项目邀请美国学生在玻利维亚科恰班巴从事水资源管理研究。具有工程学和人类学背景的本科生和博士生将收集实地数据，以：1)评估卫生技术的处理性能和碳中和；2)开发数学模型，以评估在人口增长、城市化、发展、农业土地利用和气候变化的情景下，来自天然泉水和雨水的供水的可持续性。学生将与社区非政府组织水解决方案的一名工程师合作，还将在教师圣地亚哥·莫拉莱斯博士的指导下与玻利维亚科技大学的学生和教职员工合作。研究生将把他们的研究与参与新的16学分的水、健康和可持续发展研究生证书结合起来。本科生将通过USF荣誉学院或其他本科生研究计划返回校园继续研究。本科生还将在下一年参加一个6学分的国际顶石设计课程。其中三个课程学分将通过与科恰班巴大学土木工程学院建立的伙伴关系在玻利维亚进行。该项目由国际科学与工程办公室(OISE)和化学、生物工程、环境和运输系统司(CBET)共同资助。

Water management is fundamental to human societies, and requires scientists and engineers who can integrate cultural, institutional, and international dimensions of water resources with sophisticated technologies and solutions. This International Research Experiences for Students (IRES) project engages U.S. students in water management research in Cochabamba, Bolivia. Undergraduate and Ph.D. students with engineering and anthropology backgrounds will collect field data to: 1) assess the treatment performance and carbon neutrality of sanitation technology and 2) develop mathematical models to estimate the sustainability of water supplies from natural springs and rainwater under scenarios of population growth, urbanization, development, agricultural land use, and climate change. Students will partner with an engineer from the community-based nongovernmental organization Aqueous Solutions, and will also work with students and faculty from the Universidad Tecnológica Boliviana, under the mentorship of faculty member Dr. Santiago Morales.Graduate students will integrate their research with participation in a new 16-credit Graduate Certificate in Water, Health, and Sustainability. Undergraduates will return to campus to continue research via the USF Honors College or other undergraduate research initiatives. Undergraduates will also participate the following year in a 6-credit International Capstone Design course. Three of the course credits will take place in Bolivia through an established partnership with the civil engineering at the Universidad Privada del Valle (Cochabamba). This project is co-funded by the Office of International Science and Engineering (OISE) and the Division of Chemical, Bioengineering, Environmental, and Transport Systems (CBET).