Drexel Professors Interview with WHYY on Haiti Project

June 15, 2010 Five months ago, a magnitude 7.0 earthquake ravaged Haiti, with its epicenter near the city of Leogane. Drexel professors Drs. Franco Montalto (CAEE) and Mimi Sheller (CoAS), returned from Leogane a month ago. In Leogane, they’re conducting research on water infrastructure and what the community needs through their NSF funded project, “Supporting Haitian Infrastructure Reconstruction Decisions with Local Knowledge.” Drs. Montalto and Sheller shared the latest in their research efforts with WHYY’s Radio Times.

Dr. Montalto directs Drexel’s Sustainable Water Resource Engineering lab. Sociology professor Dr. Sheller directs Drexel’s Center for Mobilities Research and Policy. Together, they are conducting interviews and surveys to learn what the people of Leogone say they need, not what foreign agencies, no matter how well-meaning and how well-funded, decide they ought to need. Visit the Radio Times site to listen to the MP3.