Phase 2 of the research begins

We've spent the last week and a half preparing for our upcoming two months of research. Asher is starting phase 2 of his research after doing in-depth qualitative interviews about water and hydration coupled with ethnographic focal follows, where he would follow people around for 3-4 hours noting their activity and dietary patterns and how these factors affected changes in hydration levels during phase 1. Phase 2 consists of intensive diet, health, economic, and anthropometric interviews targeted at understanding how market participation, wealth, income, and human capital are related to people's hydration strategies and linking hydration strategies to hydration levels, body composition, and water-related infections. He will be conducting interviews with all of the households in both communities.

We're happy to announce that we've interviewed and since hired a doctor to join our research team (thanks NSF) to assist with blood spot collection (to assess C-reactive protein, an indicator of immune activation and inflammation) and fecal sample collection (to assess parasitic infections) as well as help with making diagnoses during the health recall aspect of the upcoming interviews.

We're heading back to Campo Bello on Wednesday for 3.5 weeks. We'll then fly to Trinidad to deliver the blood, fecal, and water samples to the laboratories with whom Asher is collaborating. Then rinse and repeat in Anachere.

Matthieu Paley, the awesome photographer from National Geographic, was kind enough to take a few portraits of us this last trip to Anachere. Here are two of our favorites - we love the boots hanging upside down as was customary to dry them out due to the flooded streams in the foreground, our house and solar panels are on the right in the top photo. (©Matthieu Paley / National Geographic):

Here's to another month in the field!