PhD candidate Judith Maréchal from Arctic DTU went to Tromsø in Norway with north2north mobility funding to learn more about the relationship between the water supply infrastructure and public health in Greenland.
The objective of the stay was a collaboration with Dr. Kristine Bondo Pedersen from UiT The Arctic University of Norway in performing a multivariate statistical analysis, using both health data and infrastructural data collected during the first phases of the PhD research project. The aim was to determine whether a causality exists between the current state of the water supply infrastructure and certain public health challenges in rural Greenland, as is the case in other parts of the Arctic. This collaboration was a successful first step of data processing and exploration, and further work is under way to establish the linkages between water supply and public health in remote communities.
Tromsø. Akvaplan Niva´s Headquarters can be seen on the island´s embankment, to the left. University of Tromsø is visible all the way to the right. Photo: ©Judith Y.A. Maréchal
The stay was also an excellent opportunity to interact with new teams, in particular that of Akvaplan-niva, a daughter company of the Norwegian Institute for Water Research NIVA. It offered a chance to attend internal seminars at Akvaplan, and meet with researchers from many relevant programs, especially the one on “Water and Society”. Finally it was also the occasion to meet with Dr. Tore Lejon, from UiT The Arctic University of Norway, and discuss the topic of wastewater management in cold regions, and a possible post-doc position opening soon on this topic.
Published in 2022.
