People

Tufts University students from engineering to public health, nutrition to international relations, urban planning to chemistry, and everything in between, participate in WSSS! Each cohort represents multiple facets of the Tufts community, with students coming from a variety of schools on campus. Read profiles of some past and present WSSS students to see different perspectives on the WSSS experience since 2004.

"WSSS helped me formalize what had become an independent passion of mine from a side project to a recognizable presence in my professional development. The program allowed me to demonstrate my interest in and commitment to solving water problems."

"I’m interested in working on sustainable water treatment and disinfection at the intersection of practical engineering concerns and novel chemical removal techniques, with understanding of the social factors which influence the feasible techniques."

"I always felt that water is the next gold, the most precious resource, and the one that we are most seriously depleting and polluting. I wanted to learn more about the solutions to prevent that, especially coming from California."

"As soon as I went to the first meeting I knew I was going to participate in WSSS - it seemed like the perfect way to combine and apply my interests in global and environmental health and sustainable agriculture."

"Working [in humanitarian aid] also involves addressing the broader public health situation in which water is a key factor. For this you don’t only need medical knowledge, but also knowledge and understanding of the water systems and the ways in which water is used by a society."

"The conceptualization of the whole program was exciting to me. I’m an engineer by training so even though I ended up in Public Health, I’ve always looked at the world as one big system. This program is really systematic in how it sees the world as interconnected via this issue of water. It really suited my nature."

"With WSSS ... you have conversations with engineers, public health or nutrition students, or students from the Fletcher school. People are coming from different areas, which broadens the discussion. I think it’s going to be different every year because of the mix of students and involvement from the schools."

"In engineering education, it's often about being technically excellent... but you can't learn everything. I took classes in Public Health; in the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy ;in Economics... What I learned while at Tufts is as relevant to what I'm doing now in the Middle East – water systems planning and management – then further education in traditional Civil Engineering."

"In WSSS most people get a broad perspective on water resource issues, so when you get out into the water field you can draw on that background – skills as well as knowledge. For example, classes like GIS or systems engineering gave me practical skills; classes like hydrology or integrated water resource management gave me exposure to a lot of issues."