Using Large Marine Protected Areas to Recover Highly Productive Marine Ecosystems and the Services They Provide: the Case of the Adriatic Sea

New Solutions for Global Control of Parasitic Infections: The Case of Schistosomiasis

Mineral dust components in aerosols and their effect on ocean productivity

The Effects of Wildlife Loss and Land Use Change on Rodent-Borne Disease Risk in East Africa

This project explores whether the loss of large wildlife and changes in land use increase the risk of infectious disease in developing tropical countries.

Rural Health and Development at the Food-Water Nexus

Water, health and environment: Childhood survival in Tanzania

Each year, diarrhea kills an estimated 1.8 million people worldwide. More than 90 percent of the victims are children younger than five in developing countries. This research project assessed the prevalence of diarrhea in the developing world through multiple exposure routes: water supply, sanitation and hygiene practices. The initial research focused on the largest city in Tanzania, Dar es Salaam, where historically residents have relied on water from shallow wells in close proximity to household pit latrines. The project brought together investigators and research methods from environmental science and engineering, medicine, public health, urban planning and policy to identify promising, cost-effective approaches to reducing childhood mortality from water and sanitation-related diseases.

An alternative development model? Assessing solar electrification for income generation in rural Benin

Beginning in summer 2007, the Solar Electric Light Fund (SELF, a US-based NGO) in collaboration with local organizations began a project to electrify the entire Kalale district of northern Benin with photovoltaic (PV) solar systems. Thanks to the randomized, single-treatment project design, the Kalale project provides an ideal laboratory and rare opportunity for comprehensive, rigorous testing of the economic, environmental, and sociopolitical impacts of sorl electrification. We propose to undertake a multidisciplinary study of SELF's Kalale project. Combining technical measurement equipment with cross-sectional and longitudinal household surveys, we will quantify the project's impact on the local environment, household and community income, resident nutrition and health, and community organization surrounding the provision and maintenance of public goods. Ultimately, we aim to quantify the overall sustainability of the project on these axes and to understand the potential for regional and global replication.