Graduated neuroscience and environmental science major Ashley Titus first became involved with the Water Institute last summer and began her research on water quality and lead contamination in Uganda in the fall of 2024 through the course ENVR 295. She continued her work into the spring semester through ENVR 890.

“In the fall course, it started as just overall water quality and mapping the stakeholders and policies,” Titus said. “And then in ENVR 890, I transitioned into looking at government and utilities and being more specific in the process.”

Through her project on stakeholder and policy mapping, which was presented at the 26th Annual Celebration of Undergraduate Research, Titus gained proficiency working with quantitative and qualitative data from a variety of fields.

“It’s hard to synthesize this information into visuals and writing that’s actually useful for decision-makers,” she said. “So, I think that translation has been the biggest skill [gained].”

Titus has also experienced professional growth working at the Water Institute. Last fall, she worked with a team of volunteers who assisted in data collection, and she says managing that group improved her leadership skills.

“Sometimes it’s hard to motivate volunteers when they’re just doing it for [service] hours,” she said. “So how to get the team motivated and passionate about the project really helped grow my skills.”

Overall, Titus is grateful for the unique research opportunities presented by the Water Institute.

“It’s really cool to get to do this kind of high-level systems work as an undergrad and it’s different from the traditional wet lab research on water quality,” she said. “But also, I come from an interdisciplinary background, so it’s really cool to use some of the environmental science policy stuff that I’ve learned and apply it to public health and see the effects on the brain and body.”

In the future, Titus plans to attend medical school while holding on to her environmental science background.

“This work sparked a deeper interest in sustainable and scalable solutions, so I think it will inform my work as a physician,” she said.