Submitted by Isha RAY on
California’s San Joaquin Valley is home to four million people and is one of the most productive agricultural regions in the world. It is also a region that has long grappled with a host of difficult water problems, many resulting from 150 years of irrigated agriculture, and all influenced by complex governance structures, a contentious historical context, an evolving regulatory environment, and a changing climate. In this project, we seek to understand how advances in water technology can help address the many water challenges in the San Joaquin Valley, including the interlocking issues of salinization, contamination, and scarcity. We use semi-structured interviews with a wide array of stakeholders—including regulators, farmers, community advocates, researchers, technology developers, and NGOs—to understand stakeholders’ perspectives on advanced water technologies. Interview questions focus on drivers and barriers to innovation and implementation of advanced water technologies and the features of these technologies that would make them appealing to different groups.
We are looking for 1-2 students to assist with processing data from interviews with stakeholders and experts engaged with water challenges in the San Joaquin Valley. The primary task is transcription of interview recordings; depending on the interests of the student(s) and the progression of the project, additional tasks may also include assisting with thematic analysis of the interviews and developing and refining a codebook. Students will receive human subjects research training in order to work on the project (CITI training) and will gain experience in qualitative data processing, analysis, and tools (e.g., Otter.ai and Dedoose). Students will also gain familiarity with California water issues and the wide array of perspectives related to water challenges and solutions in the San Joaquin Valley, as well as the challenges of innovation in the water sector.
Familiarity with or interest in water, agriculture, and technological innovation would be ideal. Prior training in engineering (especially environmental engineering), natural and environmental sciences, and social sciences is also an asset, as is experience working with qualitative data. In your application, please highlight your relevant coursework, experience, and interests. Please also indicate how many hours you would be interested in working on this project per week (a range is fine).