Last week, two ISU students presented their research on a specific area of Tanzania that looked at trends related to the needs and geographical information on the region at the European Space Agency’s international conference in Edinburgh, Scotland.

Deepak Premkumar, senior in economics, and Dylan Clark, senior in global resource systems, were the only undergraduate students to present among the scientists and scholars at the conference.

They started their research two years ago when they were sophomores.

“We started applying to the International Review Board and getting National Institute of Health certified to do research on humans,” Premkumar said. “We designed our own surveys, we went into the field, conducted, compiled the data.” 

Premkumar and Clark spent eight weeks in the summer together following their sophomore year collecting data in Tanzania.

“We volunteered to basically conduct an appraisal of all the resources in the area being food, water, agricultural practices, education and health issues and give them basically a report of what barriers and constrictions were preventing their lives from getting better in that area,” Clark said.

Through their own surveys and focus groups, and by looking at the geology, economics and agriculture in the region, Clark and Premkumar were able to establish links between sets of issues to help local government officials better understand how to correct and further develop the area.

Using satellite imaging and remote sensing, government officials can look at the region and easily view the link between the geographical issues and the health issues in Tanzania.

Iowa State was among the sponsors throughout the process.

“I think a lot of this research experience both in Tanzania and being able to present it abroad was a good teaching moment for us to realize that we have a university that, despite being so big, is willing to stand up with the students by letting us take our passions, and travel and analyze real world issues and try and make an impact which is a really cool thing,” Premkumar said.

The European Space Agency’s international conference had 1,800 attendants from all across the world attend. Premkumar and Clark found that not many groups at the convention were similar to their subject.

They were also able to gather the interest of a small group of people who were highly engaged during their poster presentation in asking about the methodology and application of their research.

“The idea was to establish a framework that could be used in research in other areas and also to look at trends that emerged,” Clark said.

While Clark and Premkumar said they enjoyed the research process, their motivation came from their desire to help people around the world. Both knew they had interest in international relations prior to the research project.

“I think we’ve both had for a long time, a very strong sense of social justice and wanting to have careers and lives that are oriented around helping alleviate injustice in some aspect,” Clark said. “I think this project gave both of us experience and direction in how we want to do that.”

Clark and Premkumar plan to further their education. Premkumar plans to pursue a doctorate in international development economics, while Clark plans to pursue geography related studies in adaptation to climate change and food security.

“Whatever the outcome of it is, in that perspective, hopefully, my main concern is that there’s something tangible that comes out of the research and that it helps people in the area,” Clark said.