Collaborative Research: IRES Track I: US-Costa Rica Collaboration to Quantify the Holistic Benefits of Resource Recovery in Small-Scale Communities

合作研究：IRES 第一轨：美国-哥斯达黎加合作量化小规模社区资源回收的整体效益

• 批准号: 2246350
• 负责人: Nancy Romero-Daza
• 金额: $ 8.31万
• 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: 2023
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2023-08-01 至 2026-07-31
• 项目状态: 未结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=2246350&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Collaborative; Research; IRES; Track; US

Integrating waste treatment with resource recovery in small-scale communities can facilitate progress toward global sanitation initiatives. However, challenges in quantifying and communicating the holistic social, environmental, and economic impacts and benefits of wastewater management strategies can prevent the implementation of such initiatives. This IRES Track I program will take place in Costa Rica, where 66% of the septic tank sludge is not treated properly before disposal and 86% of the wastewater connected to sanitary sewers receives limited to no treatment prior to discharge. Contamination caused by untreated wastewater jeopardizes Costa Rica’s national economy, which is dependent on ecotourism. Consequently, this program will provide 18 U.S. students from West Virginia University, University of South Florida, and California State University, Chico with an international and interdisciplinary research experience in engineering and anthropology over the course of three years. Students will use both social science and engineering methods to improve the long-term sustainability of sanitation systems in small communities using triple-bottom line (social, environmental, and economic) decision making strategies for wastewater management. Students will develop interdisciplinary skills and competencies while addressing global sanitation challenges in the socioeconomic and cultural context of rapidly urbanizing cities in Costa Rica. Along with increased participation of students from underrepresented groups, this program will contribute to training a diverse U.S. workforce to address environmental issues of global significance. The program will strengthen and expand the partnership between collaborators in the U.S. and Costa Rica to facilitate progress toward safe management of wastewater and integrated resource recovery in a sustainable and culturally appropriate way.This IRES Track I program will provide 18 U.S. students from West Virginia University, University of South Florida, and California State University, Chico with an international and interdisciplinary research experience to solve complex sanitation challenges in the ecotourism community of Santa Elena, Costa Rica. This three-year research experience is motivated by the following driving objectives: develop convergent knowledge at the intersection of environmental engineering and anthropology; provide U.S. students the opportunity to develop interdisciplinary global skills and competencies; and facilitate safe management of wastewater and integrated recovery of resources in Costa Rica. The intellectual merit of this project stems from interdisciplinary research combining the fields of environmental engineering and anthropology to address issues of global importance in a sustainable and culturally appropriate way. This convergent research will spur the development of global skills and competencies and will facilitate safe management of wastewater and recovery of resources in Costa Rica. In this IRES program, undergraduate and graduate students will receive training and skill development in water quality testing, life cycle assessment, life cycle cost analysis, and qualitative and quantitative social science data collection and analysis. Students will work in multidisciplinary teams to engage a wide range of local stakeholders to identify and assess sustainability metrics relevant to small wastewater treatment integrating resource recovery to support decision-making in the sanitation sector. Students will assess triple-bottom line (social, environmental, and economic) sustainability metrics and use multi-criteria decision analysis (MCDA) to improve the long-term sustainability of sanitation systems. A new MCDA tool will be developed based on the social, environmental and economic context of Central America. The tool will allow wastewater utilities in small communities serving populations of less than 10,000 to compare performance across multiple criteria for alternate solutions at decentralized, semi-centralized and centralized scales of implementation. IRES students will develop interdisciplinary skills and competencies while addressing global sanitation challenges in the socioeconomic and cultural context of Costa Rica. This, along with increased participation of students from underrepresented groups, will contribute to training a diverse U.S. workforce. The program will strengthen and expand the partnership between collaborators in the U.S. and Costa Rica to facilitate progress toward safe management of wastewater and integrated resource recovery in Costa Rica.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.

将小规模社区的废物处理与资源回收相结合可以促进全球卫生举措的进展，但是，量化和传达废水管理战略的整体社会、环境和经济影响和效益方面的挑战可能会阻碍此类举措的实施。 IRES Track I 计划将在哥斯达黎加进行，该国 66% 的化粪池污泥在处置前未经过适当处理，86% 连接到生活污水管道的废水在排放前受到有限或未经处理的污染。由于未经处理的废水造成的污染危害了哥斯达黎加依赖生态旅游的国民经济，该项目将为来自西弗吉尼亚大学、南佛罗里达大学和加州州立大学奇科分校的 18 名美国学生提供国际和跨学科的工程研究经验。在三年的时间里，学生将利用社会科学和工程学方法，利用三重​​底线（社会、环境和经济）决策来改善小型社区卫生系统的长期可持续性。制定废水管理策略。学生将发展跨学科技能和能力，同时应对哥斯达黎加快速城市化城市的社会经济背景下的全球卫生挑战，随着来自代表性不足群体的学生参与的增加，该计划将有助于培训多元化的美国劳动力。解决具有全球意义的环境问题。该计划将加强和扩大美国和哥斯达黎加合作者之间的伙伴关系，以促进以可持续和文化上适当的方式实现废水安全管理和综合资源回收。 IRES Track I 项目将为来自西弗吉尼亚大学、南佛罗里达大学和加州州立大学奇科分校的 18 名美国学生提供国际和跨学科研究经验，以解决哥斯达黎加圣埃琳娜生态旅游社区复杂的卫生挑战。一年的研究经验是由以下驱动目标驱动的：发展环境工程和人类学交叉领域的融合知识，为美国学生提供发展跨学科全球技能和能力的机会，并促进废水和废水的安全管理；该项目的智力价值源于将环境工程和人类学领域相结合的跨学科研究，以可持续和文化上适当的方式解决具有全球重要性的问题。和能力，并将促进哥斯达黎加废水的安全管理和资源回收。在该 IRES 计划中，本科生和研究生将接受水质测试、生命周期评估、生命周期成本分析以及定性和定量方面的培训和技能发展。社会科学数据收集和学生将在多学科团队中工作，与广泛的当地利益相关者合作，确定和评估与小型废水处理相关的可持续性指标，整合资源回收，以支持卫生部门的决策。将根据中美洲的社会、环境和经济背景开发一种新的 MCDA 工具，并使用多标准决策分析 (MCDA) 来提高卫生系统的长期可持续性。废水公用事业公司服务于人口不足 10,000 人的小社区，以比较分散、半集中和集中实施规模的替代解决方案的多个标准的绩效，IRES 学生将培养跨学科技能和能力，同时应对科斯塔社会经济和文化背景下的全球卫生挑战。随着来自代表性不足群体的学生参与的增加，该计划将有助于培训多元化的美国劳动力，并加强和扩大美国和哥斯达黎加合作者之间的伙伴关系。促进哥斯达黎加在废水安全管理和综合资源回收方面取得进展。该奖项反映了 NSF 的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。