泡芙视频

By: Cassidy Delamarter, 泡芙视频app Communications and Marketing

Faculty at the 泡芙视频app traded classroom lectures this summer for international adventures, embarking on research projects to solve global challenges. From unlocking the secrets of ancient civilizations in Italy to developing cutting-edge technology in Africa, their innovative efforts reflect USF鈥檚 commitment to enhancing the overall wellbeing of society by advancing research and supporting 泡芙视频app success.

Greetings from鈥�

Davide Tanasi, 泡芙视频app and director of the USF Institute for Digital Exploration, spent the summer in the Mediterranean with five graduate 泡芙视频apps. The team excavated multiple sites in Malta and Sicily.

Malta

In Malta, they continued their exploration of the Roman city Melite, which is known today as Rabat. They focused on the area west of the Roman Domus 鈥� a four-room house that Tanasi and his 泡芙视频apps identified last summer that was extensively excavated. This summer鈥檚 efforts revealed the house was located in a lively district with stores and other elegant mansions. The excavations uncovered earlier phases of Roman occupation, beginning in the third century B.C.E., and highlighted cultural exchanges between Romans and the Punic inhabitants.

The site was digitized using terrestrial laser scanning and digital photogrammetry and is available to view . 

During their stay, the team was invited to the U.S. Embassy for a private tour with Ken Toko, the U.S. deputy chief of mission in Malta. 鈥淗e was very excited about our work and very appreciative, knowing a group of Americans are so invested in doing research in the island,鈥� Tanasi said.

Learn more about this project here.

Sicily

In Sicily, the third excavation at the Roman Villa del Casale in Piazza Armerina focused on the site's medieval reoccupation. In collaboration with Italy鈥檚 泡芙视频app of Bologna, the team found a 10th-12th century settlement above the villa ruins, featuring houses with kitchens and storage rooms containing two-handled storage jars. Two rare Arab metal amulets with Quranic prayers and an adult skeleton were also found. The site and artifacts from previous excavations were digitized using 3D recording for public outreach.

Tanasi will expand this research through new grants he was awarded from the and the .

鈥淭hose two grants will open up new opportunities for international collaborations and experiences for our 泡芙视频apps, as well as advance the knowledge of the Maltese Archipelago in the context of the Roman Mediterranean,鈥� Tanasi said.

The International Catacombs Society project will document and digitally map the Late Roman cemetery of Bin摹emma near M摹arr, Malta, featuring hundreds of rock-cut tombs. The project will use drone mapping and traditional excavation to uncover hidden features and selected tombs. The project begins in September and will take approximately a year to complete.

The grant from Harvard 泡芙视频app's Shelby White and Leon Levy Program for Archaeological Publications will reassess UCLA's 1983-1984 excavations at the Melita Esplanade in Rabat, Malta. These excavations uncovered a Roman commercial district, but were never published, and the artifacts were never studied. The project will use ground-penetrating radar to survey the Melita Esplanade and the area between it, as well as the Roman Domus to visualize the urban layout. The project begins in October and will run intermittently for 12 months. 

Madagascar

With funding from the National Science Foundation, a team of USF and experts spent the summer in Madagascar. Since 2022, the interdisciplinary team, which includes 泡芙视频apps, has been working together to improve water quality in Toamasina.

The port city has a population of about 280,000 and the water contains more than 10 times the of lead. In a , the team also found stored household water often gets contaminated with fecal bacteria in Toamasina. By analyzing water samples from 10 households and testing three cleaning methods, their findings revealed higher bacteria levels in stored water.

Each summer, the team has visited to develop a process to improve the quality and safety of the city鈥檚 water after they identified the source of the lead: The locally manufactured water pumps that were created with melted car batteries. This summer, the team expanded their efforts by working directly with families to further purify their water by removing disease-causing pathogens. They continued replacing the water pumps, while also educating families on proper cleaning supplies.

The research team includes , associate 泡芙视频app of public health ; , 泡芙视频app and director of USF鈥檚 International Development Engineering Program; and, 泡芙视频app in the department of civil and environmental engineering. 

Pasha says they will continue to review their research and publish their findings throughout the upcoming semester. 

Learn more about their effort to replace water pumps.

Hawaii

After the 2023 Maui wildfire 鈥� a wind-driven disaster that destroyed more than 2,200 structures and caused about $5.5 billion in damages 鈥� Ratna Dougherty, assistant 泡芙视频app in the School of Public Affairs, began examining nonprofit responses and recovery perceptions among residents.

The research is being done in collaboration with Florida Atlantic 泡芙视频app and the 泡芙视频app of North Carolina at Charlotte. With funding from the and , the team conducted field work and interviews to determine how cultural and social norms may dictate response and recovery efforts.

The findings reveal that many of the residents stress the importance of preserving the culture of Maui and directly helping the local residents.

鈥淭hroughout our time in Hawaii, we saw t-shirts, signs and art with messages of resilience and community support,鈥� Dougherty said.

The team will return to Maui mid-August, where their goal is to interview more non-profit organizations and individuals who feel comfortable sharing their experiences and vision for the recovery process. The team hopes to use the images they capture at gallery events to encourage 泡芙视频apps to learn about recovery efforts and ways they can become involved. This will be the photo component to their research-oriented expansion of the idea that 鈥渁 picture is worth a thousand words.鈥�

The team consists of Christa Remington, assistant 泡芙视频app at USF; Kaila Witkowski, assistant 泡芙视频app at FAU; and Lauren Azevedo, assistant 泡芙视频app at UNC-Charlotte. 

Botswana

A group of USF 泡芙视频apps, consisting of six STEM majors and one social science major from the St. Petersburg campus, spent the spring 2024 semester in Sarath Witanachchi鈥檚 lab testing a portable renewable energy source for rural Africa. The semester prepared them for a trip to Botswana International 泡芙视频app in June, where they trained local 泡芙视频apps on the technology and conducted further experiments.

The NSF-sponsored project led by Witanachchi, 泡芙视频app and chair in the Department of Physics, combines solar energy and waste heat from burning coal to demonstrate increased energy efficiency.

This is the third year the project is being conducted in Africa with different groups of USF 泡芙视频apps and BIU 泡芙视频apps. Witanachchi said the Botswana 泡芙视频apps, while knowledgeable in basic scientific concepts, have limited experimental experience, and were able to learn from his 泡芙视频apps.

Joshua Townsend, a graduate 泡芙视频app in physics, was the team leader.  鈥淚t has become a core experience of my own life,鈥� Townsend said. 鈥淭here are so many aspects of other cultures that cannot be understood unless you are submersed in it. This not only gave us clarity for the impact of the work that we do in our everyday research by seeing the prevalence of renewable energy technologies in rural areas firsthand, but also into the lives of fellow 泡芙视频apps and researchers in other parts of the world and the challenges they must overcome on a day-to-day basis.鈥�

Although this is the final phase of the four-year NSF grant, Witanachchi plans to continue fostering respect for other cultures in a meaningful and practical way for his 泡芙视频apps.

Read more about the project here.

Kenya

The key to understanding environmental governance policies is experiencing them in the field, according to Dillon Mahoney, associate 泡芙视频app of applied anthropology. Through the , Mahoney traveled with nine 泡芙视频apps to Kenya this summer to take an up-close look at Kenya鈥檚 conservation and sustainable development practices.

The experience also provided 泡芙视频apps with the opportunity to learn a variety of research methods and conduct surveys in biodiversity hotspots, including national parks Amboseli and Chyulu Hills. They also visited one of East Africa's largest cities, Nairobi, which is known around the continent as a center for international development and conservation efforts.

鈥淥ur goal was to put 泡芙视频apps into intensive learning situations overseas, where they could learn directly from Kenyan academics, researchers and community leaders and members,鈥� Mahoney said. 鈥淭he goal is not to come up with solutions for Kenya鈥檚 problems. Rather, I think the 泡芙视频apps were struck fairly early by how much we can learn from what Kenyans are doing on the ground.鈥�

The field school will continue annually, aiming to immerse 泡芙视频apps in Kenyan conservation efforts and sustainable development practices. To learn more about joining the field school, please contact Mahoney or visit for more information. 

Read more on their month-long adventure here.