Tschakert, Smithwick, and Singha receive NSF Coupled Natural and Human Systems Grant

Assistant Professors Petra Tschakert and Erica Smithwick (Geography), Kamini Singha (Geosciences), and Annmarie Ward (Science Education) have received a $1.5 million grant from the National Science Foundation (Coupled Natural and Human Systems Program) for a five-year project entitled " Climatic Extremes, Mining, and Mycobacterium ulcerans: A Coupled Systems Perspective." The project also involves Joseph Oppong (Geography, University of North Texas) and Edith Parker (Health Behavior and Health Education, University of Michigan), as well as Richard Amankwah (University of Mines and Technology) and other colleagues in Ghana from the Kwameh Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, the University of Ghana, the Minerals Commission, and the Ghana Health Services.

Buruli ulcer (BU) is one of the most neglected but treatable diseases in tropical countries. It is considered to be a disease of the poor due to its debilitating and disfiguring skin alterations that often create social stigmas. BU typically occurs near water bodies, especially near stagnant water. In Ghana, more than 11,000 cases have been counted since 1993, the second highest rate in Africa. While the clinical dimensions of the development of the ulcer on the human skin are well understood, the natural reservoir, activation, and transmission of the bacterium remain unknown, leading the World Health Organization (WHO) to label BU as an "intriguing disease."

Tschakert and her colleagues hypothesize that environmental and landscape disturbances play a major role in the occurrence of the disease. By focusing on Ghana as a case study, the team will explore the emergence of BU at multiple temporal and spatial scales. "We believe that BU outbreaks are triggered by increased systems vulnerability resulting from exogenous disturbance in the form of more extreme and frequent rainfall events and slow drivers of landscape change due to deforestation, agriculture, and mining activities," Tschakert said.

The objectives are to a) shed light on the role and types of land disturbance on BU outbreak; b) identify potentially critical nonlinearities and surprises resulting from the interaction of human and natural factors on the landscape and subsequent disease emergence; c) add to the debate on BU reservoirs, host(s), and transmission; d) contribute insights into infectious disease dynamics and ecological change, with emphasis on climatic extremes; and e) further explore resilience in coupled human-environmental systems.

"We are excited to address new and important questions regarding complex, emerging diseases in changing landscapes, with particular emphasis on types and scales of interactions, positive feedbacks, thresholds, and non-linear dynamics" Smithwick said. Through its educational component involving cross-cultural (international) "K-12 sister-schools", the project will demonstrate how human-modified landscapes, climate change, and infectious disease patterns are interconnected, both in the United States and in Africa. Funding for preliminary discussions and proposal preparation was provided through grants from the Penn State Social Science Research Institute and the National Science Foundation (OISE).