Exploring the energy-food-health nexus in India: the role of human excreta in developing sustainable rural futures

We are seeking a talented and highly motivated individual to carry out interdisciplinary PhD research that links energy studies with environmental anthropology, public health, waste management and sustainable livelihoods. The project will adopt methods and theories from both the natural & social sciences and will employ both qualitative & participatory approaches with a significant level of engagement with local communities.

The successful candidate will be based at the University of Stirling, supervised by Dr Jen Dickie, Richard Quilliam and Dr Ben Campbell (Durham University) and will become embedded within the ‘Environmental Sustainability & Human Health’ research group. The student will also benefit from extensive collaboration with Tezpur University, in Assam, India.

Background: Despite ongoing efforts to improve access to energy in India, approximately 240 million people remain without access to electricity. Of this, over 90% live in rural areas, where the lack of access to modern energy has significant implications for economic development, rural livelihoods, environmental sustainability in addition to social dignity & health. In many areas of India, providing energy for the most basic of needs such as cooking and lighting is still a major challenge for the rural poor with the majority of rural households depending on traditional biomass fuels (firewood and agro-waste) and kerosene, both of which have serious health and environmental implications. The potential benefits of these small-scale anaerobic digesters (ADs) are three-fold; they provide a clean, cheap alternative fuel; they produce a marketable biofertiliser; they reduce gender divisions of labour by reducing the need for women and children to collect fuel wood. AD technologies that able to convert toilet wastes into methane biogas are in their infancy; however, such toilet systems have the potential to improve sanitation and reduce disease burden in rural communities in the Global South. Despite the potential of this underutilised resource to reduce poverty by improving energy access, reduce the prevalence of diarrhoeal diseases and facilitate more sustainable livelihoods, there are significant social & cultural challenges facing the use of biogas derived from human excreta. Therefore, the overarching aim of this studentship will be to quantify and enhance the role of domestic toilet AD systems for improving sustainable rural futures in India by, (i) increasing rural household energy security (ii) improving sanitation through the removal of harmful pathogens and (iii) increasing food security and sustainable livelihoods by producing a product that is safe to use as a soil amendment in agronomic systems. Central to this project will be an evaluation of the social & cultural acceptability of handling & processing human excreta in rural India.

During this project the student will carry out at least one fieldwork season in India working closely with our project partners at Tezpur University in Assam. Data collection will involve field and laboratory work, as well as significant community engagement in rural Assam. The energy potential of toilet ADs will be quantified using experimental units at Tezpur University. These will be used to determine both the optimal conditions for maximum methane production and cooking gas quality. To assess the combined potential of toilet AD systems as a pathway for improved sanitation and food security (via the use of digestate as a safe biofertiliser), pathogen die-off dynamics in the digestate will be quantified over time using standard culture-dependent methods.
The entry qualification for this PhD studentship is a first class or upper second class honours degree and/or a relevant postgraduate degree, in biological/environmental sciences, geography or anthropology. Whilst experience in microbiology would be useful, it is certainly not essential as the student will receive full laboratory training.

This is a competition-funded studentship; applications will proceed according to the standard process for NERC-IAPETUS studentships (https://www.dur.ac.uk/iapetus/). In the first instance, please contact Dr Jen Dickie ([Email Address Removed]) to register your interest - please email a CV and covering letter with the contact details (including email addresses) of two referees. Your covering letter should clearly set out your suitability and motivation for this PhD with reference to your past experience and achievements. IMPORTANT: Whilst the deadline has been set as the 20th January 2017 for all the studentships, serious candidates for this particular PhD should apply by 10th January 2017 (midnight). If this initial application is accepted, you will then be directed to make a formal application through the University of Stirling PhD application system, and your application passed onto to the NERC-IAPETUS shortlisting panel who will call the strongest candidates for interview.