What interested you in this particular hub?

Being based in Flint in public health, and in Michigan and the Great Lakes region more broadly, there are all sorts of ways that water impacts our lives and our health. It seems like a very clear, important area for research at MSU, and for outreach and teaching. I’m excited to work with these diverse scholars in thinking through water security for a healthy planet and healthy people.

How do we ensure the Water Alliance doesn’t just talk about problems, but does something about them?

We’re hoping to have three actionable steps to take in 2024. It’s really important to have measurable goals so we know that we’ve accomplished them, and that they’re action-oriented. It’s key to set that standard right away. We also need to think about funding and what we can do now to build a path to continue our work into the future.

What problems/issues do you envision the hub taking on?

We have this massive water infrastructure in the U.S., and many people assume that water access is nothing to worry about. That just isn’t true. Some communities have never had water infrastructure provided to them, like in rural Alaska. Other communities’ access to water was stolen or dispossessed during colonization, such as U.S. tribal communities and around the world. Where there is water infrastructure, little investment has been made, and systems are declining as a result. That creates problems with pressure, stagnation, and potential breakages. We have a number of issues in terms of water security that have very real consequences on people’s financial livelihood and their physical and mental health. I feel like those issues are not discussed as much, and I hope that we can start to have those conversations.

How do you think an interdisciplinary group is better equipped to approach those challenges than a siloed approach?

We’re calling our hub “One Health.” If you read the description, that is interdisciplinary in itself. We have to take a systems approach if we’re really going to take a One Health approach. We can’t focus on just one area of concern because water is so interconnected. For example, a nitrate run-off from farms into the Great Lakes can lead to toxic algal blooms, which affects drinking water linked to the city of Toledo. This issue involves drinking water for humans, livelihoods for farmers, and agricultural issues. 

I also think interdisciplinary teams are where real creativity happens. You are forced to think differently about an issue when you work with people in different disciplines than your own. Those creative overlaps lead to really exciting science. 

Why do you think MSU is uniquely positioned to create solutions?

The number of MSU faculty working in Africa is staggering. We also clearly have a very strong focus on agricultural science. We also have a new public health department, which we can leverage in our community engagement efforts since it’s based in Flint. I also think the NRT WaterCube is a great chance to boost the educational components of water science at MSU. We’ll have a whole new generation of water researchers out in the world who were trained at MSU. That’s really exciting.

What are some ideas for potential hub projects?

I think some directions we might take as a hub would be to make it easy for researchers who work in water and health to come together to find relevant experts to respond rapidly to funding calls and pull together a team of qualified, diverse skill sets in a quick amount of time. Sometimes funding opportunities are announced with very little lead time. I would like our hub to quickly facilitate formulating a team to respond to funding calls as soon as they’re announced. We could also bring in experts to help us be better prepared to apply for funding opportunities, such as climate change funding and center grants. This could help us prolong the funding for the Water Alliance.

In education, we need to make sure we know what classes are being taught across disciplines related to water and health at MSU, and where there might be holes. Then, students can take courses across disciplines that complement one another. 

Engagement with the community is crucial to water and health research, not just in Michigan but in the global community. Already, our hub has discussed creating a resource for community members to partner with a lab that could process water samples and provide the results back to the citizens. It’s hard for individuals to get their water tested in a convenient way. We could also create YouTube videos or short podcasts to spread messages about risk assessment or contaminants of concern to the public, as well as resources they could leverage to address these problems.

Across the U.S., about 37 percent of adults regularly consume bottled water. I think this is rooted in different perspectives on trust in tap water, and those root causes need to be addressed. I think our outreach could help build trust between science and citizens.

One year from now, what do you hope your hub has accomplished?

I hope people know about it and engage with it. I hope it’s integrated into the existing structures at MSU so that it’s complementary to existing programs, as MSU is a huge university, and there’s so much going on. I hope it’s also output-driven, and that people are still really excited about being part of the hub and working together. It would be massively rewarding to see teams working together on new ideas and seeing problems in a new way.