UA Investigator Received Americas Innovation Fund Award
March 13, 2017
Dr. Jim Field, UA SRP Investigator and Director of the UA Dean Carter Binational Center for Environmental Health Sciences, received a 100,000 Strong in the Americas Innovation Fund award. This award is a federal initiative to expand higher-education partnerships in environmental sciences in the Western Hemisphere and increase study-abroad opportunities for students at the UA and in Latin America. The US Ambassador to Mexico announced the award at the Partners of the Americas convention in Guadalajara, Mexico, October 2016.
This grant will support ten UA graduate students and partner universities pursuing dual Master's degrees in Environmental Sciences and Engineering, in a coordinated curriculum focused on water sustainability and reuse. The program aims to enhance student regional education cooperation and competiveness. Students spend one year at their home institution and the other at a participating university. Partner universities are the Federal University of Pernambuco (Brazil), Federal University of Minas Gerais (Brazil), the University of Concepción (Chile), and the National Autonomous University (Mexico).
"Scarcity of clean water is a serious problem confronting major cities and arid and semiarid regions of the Americas," said Dr. Field. In addition he also added, "Training future professionals to develop and implement water reuse technology requires a collaborative international approach. This award will help graduate students in the US and Latin America overcome mobility and language barriers to better tackle water challenges throughout the region."
The grant is sponsored by the White House, U.S. Department of State, Partners of the Americas and the Association of International Educators, and the Coca-Cola Foundation.
This is the fourth time the UA has received an innovation grant from the 100,000 Strong in the Americas Innovation Fund since the program was established in 2014 — more than any other US university.