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，需要科学家和工程师能够将水资源的文化、制度和国际层面与复杂的技术和解决方案结合起来。这个国际学生研究经验（IRES）项目邀请美国学生在玻利维亚科恰班巴进行水管理研究。具有工程和人类学背景的本科生和博士将收集实地数据，以便：1)评估卫生技术的处理性能和碳中和；2)建立数学模型，以估计人口增长、城市化、发展、农业用地利用和气候变化等情景下天然泉水和雨水供应的可持续性。学生们将与社区非政府组织“水溶液”的一名工程师合作，并将在圣地亚哥·莫拉莱斯博士的指导下与Tecnológica玻利维亚大学的学生和教师合作。研究生将把他们的研究与参加新的16学分的水、健康和可持续发展研究生证书相结合。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。本科生还将参加下一年的6学分国际顶点设计课程。课程学分中的三个将在玻利维亚通过与科科班巴私立瓦莱大学土木工程学院建立的伙伴关系获得。该项目由国际科学与工程办公室（OISE）和化学、生物工程、环境和运输系统部门（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).