LBJ Students will help Nepal build better housing and develop community supplies of water and energy in earthquake-affected rural areas.

ABOUT THE COURSE

Class members will work with Nepalese, Japanese, and Dutch faculty and graduate students to develop reconstruction plans for a collection of rural Nepali villages destroyed by the 2015 earthquake. The Government of Nepal possesses reconstruction funds that have not spent due to the limited operational plans for viable rural village reconstruction. Traditional earth-brick or stone construction has not fared well during earthquakes, as stacked bricks and stones connected by mortar tends to crumble or liquefy when shaken. This course brings together building expertise in six types of home construction design. Class members will develop ideas for sustainable construction of housing along with approaches to provide community water and electricity utilities. The course enrolls graduate students from more than four nations with multidisciplinary academic backgrounds. The suggested technical outcomes will be to provide guidance to the Nepalese reconstruction authorities and have policy implication that can contribute to development in the Nepalese communities and improve the lives of its citizens. 

WHAT YOU WILL BE FUNDING

Each student requires $1800 to travel to Nepal and be housed and fed for 10 days of field studies in Nepal. Your contribution will allow these students to develop awareness of challenges faced by communities in disadvantaged regions affected by a natural disaster and develop technical and social solutions based on cultural attributes of a community.

Please see our video for more information!

This project is led by the LBJ students. Below are more spotlights of the talented men and women whose work depends on your contributions:

Christine Katigbak Ngan

Candidate for M.S. in Environmental Engineering

Fun Fact: I jumped off the second largest bungee jump bridge in the world (Victoria Falls Bridge), swinging between Zambia and Zimbabwe the morning after getting stitches in my right shin.

Christine is pursuing a M.S. in Environmental Engineering with a focus on water treatment. This PNW native wants to explore the intersection between environmental engineering and social justice. As such, she chose to study water treatment because access to clean water is a universally vital component to every facet of life. Especially with growing present and future water demands, Christine wants to be a driver of innovative water treatment development and community-based development. She wants to be a force for providing clean water to everyone.

Mike Niedbala

Graduate Student

Fun Fact: I spent 6 years as an Army officer before returning to graduate school.

Mike is a first year graduate student in the Department of Civil Engineering. He is currently pursuing a masters degree in environmental engineering and his interests include the use and potential health effects of reclaimed water. Mike is from Geneva, Illinois.

Walter Ellison II

Graduate Student

Fun Fact: Despite 15 years in the Army, my genuine fear of heights remains intact.

Walter is a first year graduate student at the LBJ School of Public Affairs, at The University of Texas, at Austin. He is currently pursuing a Master of Global Policy Studies with the specific desire to one day increase the effectiveness of humanitarian aid in the immediate aftermath of man-made and natural disasters.

Levi Methvin

Graduate Student

Fun Fact: I’ve gotten food poisoning on four continents, let's make it five!

Levi is currently pursuing a Masters in Global Policy at the LBJ School of Public Affairs at UT. His focus is on human rights and conflict resolution, and intends to work towards strengthening global journalistic freedom. Levi is from Levelland, TX.

Leah Havens

Student

Fun Fact: I have a giant three legged dog who is the light of my life (except for when she eats shoes).

Leah is a first year Master's student in the Global Policy Studies program at the LBJ School of Public Affairs. She graduated in May from the Cockrell School of Engineering with a Bachelor's Degree in Civil Engineering. Leah is focusing on international development and the environment in her Master's program and plans to pursue a career in policy analysis for engineering-based international development programs. Her primary interests lie in the water and sanitation sector, as well as extractive industries and human rights. 

Rachel Schutte

Graduate Student

Fun fact: I have visited 11 different countries in the past 3 years and travel is slowly but surely becoming one of my favorite things along with elephants and the Green Bay Packers. 

Rachel is a first year graduate student in the Department of Architectural Engineering with a focus on building energy and environments. Her special interests include building's role in the fight against climate change and building HVAC system design. She wants to begin working with policy makers to ensure the best standards are in place to promote end-use energy efficiency and to further decarbonize global energy supplies in the developed and developing worlds. 

Katherine Whitton

M.S. Global Policy Candidate

Fun fact: My favorite souvenir is a postcard. I have been having friends and family send them through the mail from any location possible since I was little. 

Katherine is focusing on the intersection of international development and governance. Before coming to the LBJ School of Public Affairs, she received two bachelor degrees from the University of Central Florida in History and Political Science. After graduation, she served in the US Peace Corps in Ethiopia for two years. Fun fact: My favorite souvenir is a postcard. I have been having friends and family send them through the mail from any location possible since I was little. 

Drake Hernandez

Student

Fun Fact: I write on paper with my left hand and on a white board with my right!

Drake is a graduating undergraduate senior in the Department of Mechanical Engineering with a focus on operations research and economics. His primary interests lie within the electric power sector, specifically the changing dynamic between the electricity utility and the consumer and the diffusion of cutting-edge energy efficiency technologies. Drake is from Groves, Texas.

Samantha Martinez

Student

Fun Fact: I prepared a silver nanoparticle solution that is used in Ghana in water quality treatment filters

Samantha is a Civil Engineering undergraduate senior with a Public Policy Certificate from the Bridging Disciplines Program, graduating in May 2017. Samantha has taken part in Environmental Engineering research and served as a co-instructor for Clubes de Ciencias, Mexico. She has great interest in education, water conservation and quality regulation, and innovation of water access and treatment.

Ryan Brown 

Graduate Student 

Fun Fact: I attended the Paris Climate Change talks last year.

Ryan is in his final year of a dual Master’s program in Global Policy Studies at the LBJ School and Energy & Earth Resources at the Jackson School of Geosciences. He specializes in the implementation of renewable technology in developing countries. He has previously worked for Human Rights Watch in Indonesia looking at the effects of dam construction on local populations.

Justin Thompson

Graduate Student 

Fun Fact: I lived in Wuhan, China for four years and I speak Mandarin.

Justin is a second-year graduate student pursuing a Master of Science from the Jackson School of Geosciences in Energy and Earth Resources and a Master of Arts from the LBJ School of Public Affairs in Global Policy Studies with a focus on water resource management and policy. Research interests and course study areas pertain to sustainable groundwater development, management, and policy under climate change and population growth. He was awarded a Bachelor of Business Administration in International Business from Texas Tech University and has significant academic and professional experience within the People’s Republic of China