Field Methods Course Update

The first offering of the first-of-its-kind course, Sustainable Development in Emerging Regions: WaTER Field Methods, has come to a conclusion. Thirteen students from the University of Oklahoma completed the three-week course. Both undergraduates and graduate students participated, with students coming from microbiology, public health, international area studies, and engineering.

This year's Field Methods class consisted of 10 undergraduate and 3 graduate students
from a variety of academic disciplines.

Students learned a wide variety of skills they might be called upon to demonstrate while working in the field. Activities included slab and concrete block construction, water well-drilling by hand and by machine, water quality analysis, topographical surveying with Abney level, soil identification by hand, construction of biosand filters, hydraulics of gravity-flow systems, baseline health surveys, and comparison of common long-term and emergency household water treatment methods. Individual modules were led by the Water4 Foundation, Dr. Paul Weckler and five students from Oklahoma State University, Dr. Helene Carabin of the OU Health Sciences Center, and others.

Ashley Rhone and Stephen Lindstom sip dirty duck pond water
using a LifeStraw water filter.

Anna Humphrey and Amanda Oehlert build and fill a wooden
form for a biosand filter.

William Mwangi sets out the first course for a concrete block wall.

Several students who completed the course are already planning to use their skills in-country this summer. Cate Lynn will be working this summer in Uganda, Seth Gilliam will be traveling to Burma, and Anna Humphrey is dreaming of returning to Cambodia. Many students have future hopes of improving the lives of rural villagers across the world, either as an integral part of their career path or as an avocation. 

Students auger a small-bore hole, develop well logs, and practice
soil identification using standard ASTM field methods.

Dr. Sabatini joins in the fun of hand-drilling a well
using Water4's portable drilling rig.

Junyi Du expériences drilling mud first hand by working on the
diesel-powered LS-100 rig, taught by John Stam of Enid, OK.