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Visiting Scholar
lmt56@psu.edu

Lauren Broyles is a Visiting Scholar to the Mortenson Center in Global Engineering & Resilience as she is a Postdoctoral Researcher at the Pennsylvania State University. Lauren earned her Ph.D. in Civil Engineering from the Pennsylvania State University in 2023, where she explored the effects of environmental seasonality and hydroclimatic shocks on household water insecurity and water access in Bangladesh. She is now a Postdoctoral Researcher at the Population Research Institute under the mentorship of Dr. Asher Rosinger in the Water, Health, and Nutrition Lab.

As an engineer cross-trained in the social sciences, Lauren’s goal is to help marginalized communities in the U.S. and internationally gain greater access to clean and reliable drinking water. She pursues this by utilizing publicly available datasets to explore climate and hydrological effects on household water insecurity, a situation where inadequate, unsafe, or unreliable water diminishes household health and well-being. Lauren also has on-going international fieldwork in Kenya with pastoralist communities, where she investigates the effects of engineering interventions and water, sanitation, and hygiene education on household water- and food-related health outcomes. Through her work, Lauren hopes to inform engineering and policy responses related to food aid and water interventions.

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Courses Taught

  • Maps and the Geospatial Revolution,

  • Geography of Water Resources

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Education

  • Ph.D. Civil Engineering, The Pennsylvania State University

  • M.S. Civil Engineering, Purdue University

  • B.S. Agriculture Engineering, Purdue University

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Recent Publications

  • Broyles, L.M.T., Pakhtigian, E., Mejia, A. (2024). Estimating effects of monsoon flooding on household water access.ÌýEnvironmental Research Letters.Ìý19Ìý094038.http://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/ad6ce9.Ìý

  • Broyles, L.M.T., Pakhtigian, E., Aziz, S., Akanda, A., & Mejia, A. (2023). Seasonal variation in household water insecurity: Evidence from rural Bangladesh. PLOS Water 2(7): e0000157.Ìý.

  • Rosinger A.Y., & Broyles L.M.T. (2023). Water insecurity is a structural, often invisible barrier to healthy beverage patterns and nutritious diets. (Invited Commentary): Journal of Nutrition: .

  • Broyles, L.M.T., Pakhtigian, E., Rosinger, A., & Mejia, A. (2022). Climate and hydrological seasonal effects on household water insecurity: A systematic review. WIREs: Water. .Ìý

  • Trepanier, L., Orare, J., Nyagwencha, J., & Grady, C. (2021). How are we actually doing? Comparing water and sanitation in Kenya with MDG and SDG Criteria. Journal of Water, Sanitation and Hygiene for Development. .

  • Ransom, E., Grady, C., Trepanier, L., & Bain, C. (2021). Situated Ethics in Development: STS Insights for a Pragmatic Approach to Development Policy and Practice. Science, Technology & Human Values.Ìý .