I am a fifth year PhD student here in CEE at MIT. I have been studying the environmental controls of malaria transmission, and have been developing mechanistic modeling links between climate, hydrology, entomology and ultimately malaria transmission. This research has taken me to Niger, West Africa, where I have spent more than a year in the field, spanning three wet seasons. The field work entailed making numerous observations of both hydrology and entomology variables, and involved working closely with two small village communities heavily affected by malaria. It has been a rewarding experience, both getting to know the people personally and studying the serious (but fascinating) malaria transmission threat to the community. Back in Cambridge, I have been taking classes in both hydrology at MIT as well as medical entomology, epidemiology, and malariology at the Harvard School of Public Health, which have given me the necessary background to pursue this cross-disciplinary dissertation topic.

Prior to starting this PhD, I worked for a few years as a consulting engineer modeling groundwater for contaminant transport modeling and remediation. Before that, for my MS at the University of Colorado, I conducted field research in Antarctica trying to understand climatic controls of streamflow generation. I also took time off before coming to MIT and traveled for nine months through Latin America by motorcycle. When I'm not in the field or at my computer, I can

usually be found whitewater kayaking, skiing or hiking in the New England hills, or rock climbing at local crags or in the rock gym.

integration of science, models, and technology

Zindarou, Niger

how environmental variables affect malaria transmission

Anopheles gambiae mosquito