UCSB Geographer Collaborates on Award-Winning Innovation for Health, Food, and Water Challenges in AfricaUCSB Geographer Collaborates on Award-Winning Innovation for Health, Food, and Water Challenges in Africa David López-Carr, a geographer at UC Santa Barbara, played a leading role in an international team that has received several prestigious awards for their innovative research in reducing the prevalence of schistosomiasis in Senegal. The project, described in the journal Nature, involves removing vegetation associated with a snail that hosts the bloodworm, which causes schistosomiasis. Not only does this reduce the infection rate, but the plant material can be reused as animal feed and compost. The team’s efforts have earned them the 2024 Sustainability Science Award from the Ecological Society of America, which recognizes breakthroughs in ecosystem and regional sustainability. They have also been named U.S. and International Champions for the Frontiers Planet Prize from the U.S. National Academy of Sciences, which celebrates contributions to Earth system science and planetary health. López-Carr’s other research on schistosomiasis has also been recognized with a 2024 Research Excellence Award from the Human Dimensions of Global Change and the 2024 CLAG Award from the Conference on Latin American Geography. Image Caption: UCSB geographer David López-Carr (center left) and Stanford University health and environmental scientist Andrea Lund (center right) work with Senegalese partners. Credit: Photo: UC Santa Barbara Disclaimer: AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of press releases provided by contributing institutions on EurekAlert! or for the use of information via the EurekAlert system.
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UCSB geographer David López-Carr (center left) and Stanford University health and environmental scientist Andrea Lund (center right) work with Senegalese partners
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Photo: UC Santa Barbara
(Santa Barbara, Calif.) – What if you could take an ecologically degraded environment that poses a public health problem and come up with a powerful and elegant solution that not only restores its functionality but also reduces health impacts while addressing access to food and water and alleviating poverty? An international team of biologists, social scientists, and medical researchers in the U.S. and Senegal did just that, publishing their innovation and research in the journal Naturehas received several prestigious awards.
“I“It feels satisfying to be recognized for my work to find win-win situations for the environment and people,” said UC Santa Barbara geographer David López-Carrthe leading social scientist in the diverse international team. The paper, titled “A planetary health innovation for disease, food and water challenges in Africa,” follows the researchers’ efforts to reduce the prevalence of schistosomiasis in northeastern Senegal. Schistosomiasis is a parasitic disease second only to malaria in impact, affecting 240 million people worldwide, according to the World Health Organization. It is common in tropical and subtropical areas, in places without adequate water quality and sanitation. About 700,000 people are at risk of infection.
Removing vegetation associated with a snail that hosts the bloodworm was very successful in reducing the infection rate. Not only that, the plant material could then be reused as cheap animal feed and compost.
Read more about the research here.
“By turning a public health hazard into a valuable resource, the study demonstrates a scalable solution that benefits both human health and the environment,” said the Ecological Society of America, the nation’s largest organization of professional ecologists . ESA knew the team one Sustainability Science Award 2024for “scientific work that makes the greatest contribution to the emerging science of ecosystem and regional sustainability through the integration of ecological and social sciences. According to the ESA, the article is “a textbook example of how sustainable practices improve prosperity, health, food and access to water can significantly improve, while embodying the principles of sustainability science and providing a model for global environmental and social challenges.”
The team has also been recognized as U.S. National Champions and International Champions for the Frontiers Planet Prize from the U.S. National Academy of Sciences, which “celebrates breakthroughs in Earth system and planetary science that address the environmental challenges facing humanity and enable society to live within the safe ecological limits of our planet.”
Learn more about López-Carr’s other collaborations to combat schistosomiasis here.
The Nature paper is part of a body of work that has also seen López-Carr honored with a 2024 Research Excellence Award from the Human Dimensions of Global Change, a specialist group of the American Association of Geographers. The award “recognizes a scholar for research contributions that advance the fundamental understanding of the human dimensions of global change.” He is also the recipient of the CLAG Award 2024 from the Conference on Latin American Geography for two decades of teaching, research and mentoring.
Disclaimer: AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of press releases provided by contributing institutions on EurekAlert! placed, or for the use of information via the EurekAlert system.
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