IRES Track 1: Convergent research to support provision of safe water in eastern coastal Madagascar

IRES 第 1 轨道：支持在马达加斯加东部沿海提供安全用水的融合研究

• 批准号: 2107114
• 负责人: Jeffrey Cunningham
• 金额: $ 28.88万
• 依托单位: University of South Florida
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2021
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2021-09-01 至 2024-08-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=2107114&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: IRES; Track; Convergent; research; support

Both within the U.S. and throughout the rest of the world, people often lack access to a safe, reliable supply of publicly provided drinking water. In the U.S., this may result from natural disasters or temporary failures in infrastructure, such as Hurricane María in Puerto Rico in 2017 or the Texas power crisis in 2021, both which deprived U.S. citizens from access to safe water for days, weeks, or months. In many other parts of the world, lack of access to safe water may be a regular part of life. In such contexts, people may be forced to periodically gather non-potable water, to treat it themselves to improve its quality and safety, and then to store the treated water within their homes. However, an important challenge is that it is not clear what practices should be employed for treating and storing water to minimize health risks. For instance, in Madagascar, water is commonly acquired from decentralized sources and then treated at the point of use (e.g., the household) to improve its safety. In this project, cohorts of U.S. students from the University of South Florida (USF) will travel to Toamasina, Madagascar, to conduct research in support of providing safe water via point-of-use treatment and sound storage practices. The project is motivated by three sets of overlapping and complementary driving objectives: (1) to advance disciplinary knowledge in the convergent fields of environmental engineering and social/behavioral sciences (social psychology/social marketing); (2) to develop global skills and competencies in a cohort of U.S. students in support of a globally competitive U.S. workforce; and (3) to contribute to the provision of safe water in a water-stressed area in eastern coastal Madagascar. Although the immediate results of this project’s research will most directly benefit the populace of Toamasina, those results are likely to apply to a broad array of settings (both domestic and worldwide) where point-of-use disinfection of water is deployed and where water is stored with or without point-of-use disinfection.During each year of this 3-year project, 5 U.S. students (four undergraduates or early graduate students, plus one PhD student or candidate) will travel to Madagascar for a period of 7 weeks during the summer. In Madagascar, students will be mentored by the President and Vice President of Ranontsika, a non-governmental organization (NGO) that that aims to improve public health by promoting access to high-quality drinking water through a social business service franchise model. USF and Ranonstika have a successful existing partnership, and we have previously collaborated on several important initiatives related to the presence of lead (Pb) in household water in Toamasina. The intellectual merit of this project derives from the completion of convergent research in the complementary disciplines of environmental engineering and social psychology (social marketing). Environmental engineering students will (a) develop methods/procedures for estimating proper chlorine dose for point-of-use disinfection of potable water in an environment with widely varying raw water quality, and (b) develop methods/procedures for controlling bacterial re-contamination in household water storage containers (with particular emphasis on households not practicing point-of-use disinfection). Simultaneously, social/behavioral sciences students will use social marketing to understand the local community’s knowledge, attitudes, beliefs, and behaviors related to point-of-use disinfection and household storage, including the importance the community places on specific products and techniques, where they seek information, and when/how/why they employ particular practices. Results from these two complementary lines of research will be combined to develop a strategy that encourages or modifies behaviors to maximize water safety. Broader impacts of this project will include the development of global competencies and skills within the cohort of students who conduct research in an international setting. In this project, by partnering with an NGO that is based on a unique business model, students will observe alternative models for successful enterprises in low-income countries. The work proposed here will strengthen an existing partnership between USF and Ranontsika, and will expand our collaborative research portfolio by investigating disinfection and microbiological quality of water as well as Pb contamination of household water.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.

在美国和世界其他地方，人们往往无法获得安全、可靠的公共饮用水供应。在美国，这可能是由于自然灾害或基础设施的暂时故障，例如2017年波多黎各的飓风玛丽亚或2021年德克萨斯州的电力危机，这两次事件都使美国公民无法获得安全用水数天，数周或数月。在世界其他许多地方，无法获得安全用水可能是生活的一部分。 在这种情况下，人们可能被迫定期收集非饮用水，自行处理以提高水质和安全性，然后将处理后的水储存在家中。然而，一个重要的挑战是，不清楚应该采用什么样的做法来处理和储存水，以尽量减少健康风险。例如，在马达加斯加，通常从分散的水源取水，然后在使用点进行处理（例如，家庭，以提高其安全性。在这个项目中，来自南佛罗里达大学（USF）的一批美国学生将前往马达加斯加的图阿马西纳进行研究，以支持通过使用点处理和良好的储存做法提供安全的水。该项目的动机是三套重叠和互补的驱动目标：（1）在环境工程和社会/行为科学的融合领域推进学科知识（社会心理学/社会营销）;（2）培养美国学生的全球技能和能力，以支持具有全球竞争力的美国劳动力;以及（3）为马达加斯加东部沿海缺水地区提供安全用水做出贡献。虽然该项目的研究成果将最直接地造福于图阿马西纳的民众，但这些成果可能适用于广泛的环境（国内和世界各地）部署水的使用点消毒以及水在使用或不使用点消毒的情况下储存的地方。在这个为期3年的项目中，每年有5名美国学生（四名本科生或早期研究生，加上一名博士生或候选人）将在夏季前往马达加斯加为期7周。在马达加斯加，学生将由Ranontsika的总裁和副总裁指导，Ranontsika是一个非政府组织（NGO），旨在通过社会商业服务特许经营模式促进获得高质量饮用水来改善公共卫生。USF和Ranonstika有一个成功的现有合作伙伴关系，我们以前合作过几个重要的举措，涉及到图阿马西纳家庭用水中的铅（Pb）。该项目的智力价值来自于环境工程和社会心理学（社会营销）互补学科的融合研究的完成。环境工程专业的学生将（a）开发方法/程序，用于估计在原水质量变化很大的环境中饮用水使用点消毒的适当氯剂量，以及（B）开发方法/程序，用于控制家庭储水容器中的细菌再污染（特别强调不使用点消毒的家庭）。 同时，社会/行为科学专业的学生将利用社会营销来了解当地社区的知识，态度，信仰和行为相关的使用点消毒和家庭存储，包括社区的重要性放在特定的产品和技术，他们在哪里寻求信息，以及何时/如何/为什么他们采用特定的做法。这两个互补的研究领域的结果将结合起来，制定一项鼓励或改变行为的战略，以最大限度地提高水安全。该项目的更广泛影响将包括在国际环境中进行研究的学生群体中发展全球能力和技能。在这个项目中，通过与一个基于独特商业模式的非政府组织合作，学生将观察低收入国家成功企业的替代模式。 这里提出的工作将加强USF和Ranontsika之间现有的合作伙伴关系，并将通过调查水的消毒和微生物质量以及家庭用水的铅污染来扩大我们的合作研究组合。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。