Interview with Graduate University Scholar Chris Paul (Environmental Policy)
Undergraduate Uni, Linda Cao, Trinity ’14, interviewed graduate Uni Chris Paul, to find out what he was working on during his time between graduating from Duke as a Robertson Scholar in 2006 and what led to his return to Duke as a graduate student University Scholar in Environmental Policy. Read on to learn about Chris’s experiences as a researcher in environmental health, his work as a Peace Corps volunteer in Mauritania, and his current interdisciplinary research as a University Scholar.
Linda: Can you give us a little background about yourself?
Chris: I’m a local to the to land of the longleaf pines (North Carolina) having grown up in Chapel Hill and spending my childhood exploring the state. For high school, I went to the North Carolina School of Science and Math before coming to Duke as an inaugural Robertson Scholar. At Duke, I studied Environmental Science, Chinese, and Documentary Studies. As a Robertson, I spent my summers doing environmental research in Atlanta, South Africa, and Uganda, as well as a semester abroad in Hangzhou, China.
After graduation in 2005, I married a fellow NCSSM and Duke classmate, and together we served in the US Peace Corps in the Islamic Republic of Mauritania for two years. Upon return, I went back to work at the Children’s Environmental Health Initiative before formulating my doctoral plans. Fortunately, I was able to join a brand new PhD program at Duke, the University Program in Environmental Policy. This program, along with the Duke Global Health Institute, allows me to integrate my interests in better understanding human-environment interactions through the lens of environmental health.
My interests lie in better understanding how individual and household decision making interact with policy making to determine the quality of our environment. I have two major projects at this point- malaria policy in East Africa and climate change, water, and health in Ethiopia. Outside of schoolwork, Anna’s and my daughter Emma Claire helps keep everything in perspective playing in the park, singing songs, and making messes.
Linda: Could you briefly describe a typical day in your life as a graduate student here at Duke?
Chris: As an interdisciplinary and applied researcher, I frequently have collaborations for projects across campus, so most days I have at least one research meeting somewhere across campus. I live in Chapel Hill and I try to bike over to Duke at least once a week (otherwise taking the bus), where I change into some nicer clothes before heading to a meeting or lecture. I try to demarcate chunks of the day to work on bigger projects, but in addition, the multi-investigator projects involve quite a bit of smaller management tasks. I work either at the Nicholas School of the Environment or the Global Health Institute, depending upon where my meetings are. I also am involved of a variety of service and extracurricular activities, as a University Scholars Program mentor, but also as co-chair of the Society of Duke Fellows, Global Health Student Council, and Global Health Working Group. Balancing all of these commitments can be challenging but is always interesting.
Linda: How does the University Scholars Program fit into your life – both academically and socially?
Chris: The University Scholars Program is natural part of my life at Duke. The program provides the structure, but I automatically seek out opportunities to interact with and learn from different disciplines and students from various backgrounds. It is such a privilege to get together with smart students from every part of the university each month to talk about interesting problems. I am pleased to be part of a case competition team with two undergraduate Unis.
Linda: I understand that you recently conducted an interesting project in Ethiopia. Could you elaborate on that?
Chris: I spent the month of December in Ethiopia, where I was running the household and health survey in the Ziway-Shala lake basin of the Rift Valley. This is a project directed by Professors from Public Policy, Earth and Ocean Sciences, Medicine, and Environment (Marc Jeuland, Avner Vengosh, Julia Kravchenko, and Erika Weinthal, respectively) funded by the PFIRST Provost funding for interdisciplinary work. We are studying water quality, health, and climate change. The ground water often has inorganic contaminants from the rock strata, and in particular, fluoride, so our research was motivated by this additional problem households face when seeking water. I worked with a team of 12 Ethiopian researchers, and we were able to cover 400 household in 20 villages during the 7 weeks of the project.
Linda: It seems that your research has brought you all around the world and has put you in contact with diverse teams and subject groups. How did your interdisciplinary training and involvement in the University Scholars Program prepare you to work on projects of this sort?
Chris: Figuring out how to integrate viewpoints and ideas on complex questions is something we do every time we get together as University Scholars. I try to bring this creative and open approach to my work elsewhere.
Linda: What is one little-known aspect of Duke/Durham that all graduate students should be privy to the moment they step on campus?
Chris: Duke Forest is an amazing 7000 acre resource for everyone in the area: beautiful trails through a variety of ecosystems and historic settings.
Linda: If you could trade lives for a day with any other University Scholar – past or present – who would it be and why?
Chris: I would trade lives for a day with Irene Liu, biology PhD student, on a day when she is in the field collecting data on extra pair copulation in songbirds, preferably in a tropical mangrove.
