Researchers at WMU, Dr. Bilinda Straight and Dr. Duy Ngo, are investigating climate change resilience by examining environmental stressors’ effects on human adaptation, particularly in northern Kenya. Their study utilizes a sibling comparison approach to analyze long-term health impacts associated with drought exposure, supported by innovative statistical methods and mentoring students in the field.
KALAMAZOO, Mich.—Researchers from Western Michigan University (WMU), Dr. Bilinda Straight and Dr. Duy Ngo, aim to study climate change resilience by examining environmental stressors on human adaptation. Their work spans from the drought-impacted regions of northern Kenya to statistical evaluations at WMU, focusing on how these factors influence health outcomes, particularly among vulnerable pastoralist communities.
Dr. Bilinda Straight, with over 30 years of experience researching the Samburu people, witnessed severe drought impacts firsthand during her fieldwork in 2009. The dire consequences of this drought on livestock and health prompted her to further investigate its long-term effects on children and their developmental outcomes. This inquiry was initiated given the expected health repercussions of climate change on reliant communities.
In collaboration with Dr. Belinda Needham from the University of Michigan, the researchers secured a National Science Foundation grant to design their study. By analyzing sibling pairs where mothers were pregnant during the drought compared to those who were not, they aim to assess how these environmental stressors impact long-term health outcomes, using epigenetic data.
Data collection was challenging due to the remote locations of the communities, which required traversing rugged terrain. Straight and her team gathered demographic, epigenetic, and climate data while conducting in-depth interviews with mothers about their experiences during the drought, adding nuance to the quantitative findings.
Dr. Duy Ngo, a statistics professor at WMU, joined the project to manage and analyze the extensive dataset, which contains over 850,000 DNA regions per participant. Using cutting-edge Bayesian statistical methods, he analyzes complex and multi-dimensional data, crucial to understanding how climate pressures affect gene expression and human development.
The collaboration between Straight and Ngo has already yielded significant results, revealing key epigenetic changes in children exposed to drought conditions. Their findings emphasize the importance of epigenetic analysis in discerning the effects of environmental stressors on development.
With NSF funding, Ngo is mentoring students like Ph.D. candidate Xi Qiao, who has utilized the dataset for research on DNA methylation and maternal climate impacts. Qiao’s findings have been published in reputable journals, illustrating the connection between in utero conditions and subsequent health outcomes, including accelerated biological aging due to drought exposure.
Moving forward, Ngo continues to mentor students while collaborating with Straight to enhance their statistical interpretations in the context of climate change. They aim to gather longitudinal data on the children studied to assess adaptations to climate stressors over time. The overarching objective is to better understand resilience in these communities and provide insights applicable to global climate change resilience efforts.
The research conducted by WMU’s Dr. Bilinda Straight and Dr. Duy Ngo integrates anthropological perspectives and advanced statistical analysis to explore the long-term impacts of environmental stressors like drought on child development. Their work emphasizes the importance of understanding resilience in climate-reliant communities, with ongoing studies aimed at tracking health outcomes over time. Ultimately, this research contributes valuable insights into the broader implications of climate change resilience worldwide.
Original Source: wmich.edu
