Job Description! (T-minus 2 days...)

Major shout-out to my grandmother, who pointed out that my June 4th 1AM flight meant getting to the airport on June 3rd...missed flight crisis averted! Getting everything packed while also finishing up my medical school apps to submit before I depart has been keeping me busy. Just the other day, I got my tentative job description! It sounds pretty exciting, but also a bit intimidating:

Primary Responsibilities:

Project Assistant

Hannah will work with Mr. Takefman, Project Leader for the ongoing National Geographic Shui Tian Ping Village Project. The project investigates the environmental impact of local factories, Centralized Animal Feeding Operations (CAFOs), and households (Phase I); and the subsequent impact on (local) public health (Phase II).

Hannah will help with both phases. For Phase I, Hannah will:

·         Refine the list of chemicals and substances CURA has to run tests on

·         Communicate and work with the Chengdu Center for Disease Control (CDC) to prepare for and implement the collection of field samples and tests

For Phase II, Hannah will:

·         Support the planning of a community health survey

·         Work with professors and students from the Sichuan University Huaxi Medical School Department of Public Health to initiate survey implementation

Secondary Responsibilities:

Administrative duties such as the maintenance of a clean office, preparation of relevant reports, and the collection and storage of (field) photos

I'm looking forward to starting! Two other LW Fellows, Thomas and Karen are already there, and have had good starts so far--and I'll get to see them soon. 

One more thought--the other day, I had the chance to talk to someone from Chengdu, who made the point that to the people, 'If money can solve it, then it isn't a problem.' Applied to water pollution, this means they don't perceive it to be a problem, because they can drink filtered/bottled water. On the other hand, air pollution is a much bigger concern (Beijing having recently banned public smoking). I'm interested to see this for myself and how this might affects the surveys we'll be implementing given people's perceptions.