Robert Swap
Uniiversity of Virginia, Environmental Sciences, Faculty Member
- Atmospheric Science, Environmental Sciences, Resilience (Sustainability), Environmental justice, global sustainability, Environmental Politics and Governance, Indigenous Knowledge Systems, Education for Sustainable Development, Environmental Sustainability. Global Development and Environmental Protection, Environmental Sustainability, Service Learning, and 8 moreInternational Relations, Higher Education, Public Administration, Africa, African Studies, Service Learning in Higher Education, Southern Africa, and Education for Sustainable Developmentedit
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
A poluição do ar é influenciada por fatores naturais e antropogênicos. Quatro pontos de monitoramento (veicular, comercial, residencial e background urbano (BGU))da poluição do ar em São Paulo foram avaliados durante 16 anos, revelando... more
A poluição do ar é influenciada por fatores naturais e antropogênicos. Quatro pontos de monitoramento (veicular, comercial, residencial e background urbano (BGU))da poluição do ar em São Paulo foram avaliados durante 16 anos, revelando diferenças significativas devidoao uso do solo em todas as escalas temporais. Na escala diurna, as concentrações de poluentes primários são duas vezes mais altas nos pontos veicular e residencial do que no ponto BGU, onde a concentração de ozonio (O3) é 50% mais alta. Na escala sazonal, as concentrações de monóxido de carbono(CO) variaram em 80% devido ao uso do solo, e 55% pela sazonalidade.As variações sazonais ede uso do solo exercem impactos similares nas concentrações de O3 e monóxido de nitrogênio (NO). Para o material particulado grosso (MP10) e o dióxido de nitrogênio(NO2), as variações sazonais são mais intensas do que as por uso do solo. Na série temporal de 16 anos, o ponto BGU apresentou correlações mais fortes e significativas entre a méd...
Field-based, STEM-related service learning / community engagement projects present an opportunity for undergraduate students to demonstrate proficiencies related to the process of inquiry. These proficiencies include: appreciation of the... more
Field-based, STEM-related service learning / community engagement projects present an opportunity for undergraduate students to demonstrate proficiencies related to the process of inquiry. These proficiencies include: appreciation of the larger project context, articulation of an informed question/hypothesis, project proposal development, interdisciplinary collaboration, project management (including planning, implementation reconfiguration and synthesis) and lastly the generation and handing off of acquired knowledge. Calls for these types of proficiencies have been expressed by governmental, non-governmental as well as the private sector. Accordingly, institutions of higher learning have viewed such activities as opportunities for enriching the learning experience for undergraduate students and for making such students more marketable, especially those from STEM-related fields. This institutional interest has provided an opportunity to support and expand field-based learning. Here we present examples of student-led/faculty-mentored international service learning and community engagement projects along the arc of preparation, implementation and post-field process. Representative examples that draw upon environmental science and engineering knowledge have been selected from more than 20 international undergraduate student projects over past decade and include: slow-sand water filtration, rainwater harvesting, methane biodigesters, water reticulation schemes and development and implementation of rocket stoves for communal cooking. We discuss these efforts in terms of the development of the aforementioned proficiencies, the utility of such proficiencies to the larger enterprise of STEM and the potential for transformative student learning outcomes. We share these experiences and lessons learned with the hope that others may intelligently borrow from our approach in a manner appropriate for their particular context.
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
As part of a long term engagement in a rural community in western Belize, students responded to community leaders’ requests for an investigation of possible solutions to their water quality and supply problems. A student research team... more
As part of a long term engagement in a rural community in western Belize, students responded to community leaders’ requests for an investigation of possible solutions to their water quality and supply problems. A student research team comprised of engineering and college students aimed to employ participatory action research methods to further understand existing challenges and develop a prototype for a water treatment and supply system. After careful analysis of local resources and constraints, the team decided that the most successful solution would combine the use of biofilters to purify the public spring water supply and improved rainwater collection to make use of the extensive storm season. An integrated prototype of these systems was built at the village government school with the purpose of serving as a model for replication in households throughout the village. In a discussion of the team’s methods and reflections, this paper emphasizes the importance of finding a balance b...
Research Interests:
This paper presents the extension of a sustainable water purification project conducted by engineering students from the University of Venda in South Africa and the University of Virginia in the United States. Through collaboration with... more
This paper presents the extension of a sustainable water purification project conducted by engineering students from the University of Venda in South Africa and the University of Virginia in the United States. Through collaboration with faculty at both universities and a community in rural South Africa, the student team facilitated the repair of a water filtration system installed the previous year. While the team had the specific goal to repair the system, they entered into this commitment with an open-ended approach to problem solving that drew heavily on community engagement and participation. The following paper describes the technical details of the project and the process by which the community was enabled to take the lead in the assessment, design and implementation of a sustainable repair to their water filtration system.
Research Interests:
This paper presents a sustainable cook stove project made possible by a partnership between a United States university and a South African community. Faculty and students from the University of Virginia and the Mashamba Primary... more
This paper presents a sustainable cook stove project made possible by a partnership between a United States university and a South African community. Faculty and students from the University of Virginia and the Mashamba Primary Presidential School collaborated to produce a cleaner and more sustainable method of cooking. The Rocket Stove, a high efficiency stove that uses wood as fuel, was adapted and implemented in the Mashamba Primary Presidential School in 2010 through a collective effort from both the University and Mashamba. Since then, University of Virginia students have revisited Mashamba and are now working closely with the primary school to determine the positive and negative impacts the cookstoves have instilled on the community. As collaboration between the University of Virginia and Mashamba Primary School continues and more knowledge about the integration of the stoves is revealed, the partners hope to disseminate information about the Rocket Stove to other portions o...
Research Interests:
This article illustrates our understanding, as a student team, of the challenges that conventional approaches can have when structuring joint student-community partnerships. Through the use of the metaphor “stuck in cement”, we wish to... more
This article illustrates our understanding, as a student team, of the challenges that conventional approaches can have when structuring joint student-community partnerships. Through the use of the metaphor “stuck in cement”, we wish to draw a distinction between viewing service learning through a results-focused lens with a sense of a clearly defined path rather than construction of partnerships. This paper will explore two main questions: Are we, as students who conduct service learning projects, stuck in a single-frame mindset? If so, how do we break free? These questions are explored through the combination of lived experience and post-field reflection. We have developed our thoughts within the context of previous work regarding approaches to international service learning projects, the challenges that are often faced, and the mindsets of those involved. This reflection, presented primarily from the perspective of student participants, is offered as an example of how our group ch...
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Coastal regions have historically represented a significant challenge for air quality investigations because of water–land boundary transition characteristics and a paucity of measurements available over water. Prior studies have... more
Coastal regions have historically represented a significant challenge for air quality investigations because of water–land boundary transition characteristics and a paucity of measurements available over water. Prior studies have identified the formation of high levels of ozone over water bodies, such as the Chesapeake Bay, that can potentially recirculate back over land to significantly impact populated areas. Earth-observing satellites and forecast models face challenges in capturing the coastal transition zone where small-scale meteorological dynamics are complex and large changes in pollutants can occur on very short spatial and temporal scales. An observation strategy is presented to synchronously measure pollutants “over land” and “over water” to provide a more complete picture of chemical gradients across coastal boundaries for both the needs of state and local environmental management and new remote sensing platforms. Intensive vertical profile information from ozone lidar s...
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
An innovative approach to developing resilient STEM students is presented. Lessons learned from more than a decade of engaged scholarship and experiential learning are shared regarding the development of student proficiencies in... more
An innovative approach to developing resilient STEM students is presented. Lessons learned from more than a decade of engaged scholarship and experiential learning are shared regarding the development of student proficiencies in communication, negotiation, collaborative problem solving and thinking outside of the box. Emphasis is placed on the modes of engaged scholarship employed that span a continuum of didactic to constructivist and that focus on challenging students mindsets to migrate from a deficit-based approach that emphasizes product over people and process, to an asset based approach that emphasizes people and process ahead of product. The presentation is broken down into five different sections, each with its own additional detail: 1) Guiding Thoughts and Questions; 2) Thoughts on Entrepreneurship and Capital; 3) Discussion of Resilience, Adaptive Cycles and Panarchy; 4) Our Intellectual Apprenticeship; and 5) Takeaways from our decade of evolving this approach.
Research Interests:
This paper deploys the adaptive cycle as a construct to understand the dynamics of community engagement and partnership building during an international service-learning project. A multi-disciplinary team of USA-based university students... more
This paper deploys the adaptive cycle as a construct to understand the dynamics of community engagement and partnership building during an international service-learning project. A multi-disciplinary team of USA-based university students collaborated with a local community in Zambia to build two ventilated improved pit (VIP) latrines. Post-field project reflection challenged the "product-first" view commonly held in service learning projects. Time was a central point of post-field reflection. Through critical scrutiny, the student team came to recognize that contextually sensitive relationship building had been essential in enabling community ownership of the project. The construct of the adaptive cycle provided a crucial analytical tool for tracing the process through which partners from very different backgrounds achieved a sense of common purpose and opened the way for an understanding of community engagement as weaving a thread through the complex dynamics of partnersh...
Research Interests:
Drawing on more than a decade of international service learning and community engagement, we describe a pedagogical and theoretical framework for understanding SLCE in the development encounter. This framework is based on ‘resilience... more
Drawing on more than a decade of international service learning and community engagement, we describe a pedagogical and theoretical framework for understanding SLCE in the development encounter. This framework is based on ‘resilience thinking’ and the concept of linked and/or nested adaptive cycles, commonly called panarchy, in coupled socio-ecological systems.
Research Interests:
ABSTRACT Beginning over a decade ago, an international network of transformative educational experiences has evolved as the Eastern-Southern Africa and Virginia Networks and Associations (ESAVANA), catalyzed through the collective... more
ABSTRACT Beginning over a decade ago, an international network of transformative educational experiences has evolved as the Eastern-Southern Africa and Virginia Networks and Associations (ESAVANA), catalyzed through the collective engagement between partner universities in ESAVANA regions. Central to this network is the practice of multi-disciplinary collaboration that transcends the traditional classroom through innovative pedagogy as well as experiential teaching and learning. ESAVANA reflects a model for research, education and engagement that is grounded in the tenets of relationship, respect and reciprocity. Thus the ESAVANA framework represents a context for 'catalyzing engagement', primarily through regional community-university partnerships. Through iterative, sustained feedback, ESAVANA network participants engage in teaching and learning intended to: leverage partnerships and existing social capital between higher education and communities on the ground for the enhancement of regional well-being; disseminate innovative approaches for the education of tomorrow's leaders; and cooperatively develop sustainable approaches to real world concerns, with an emphasis on the southern and eastern Africa regions. Grown out of the educational experiences are student-led collaborative projects that have three aims: 1) to provide students with an experiential educational environment; 2) to address challenges to sustainability with communities in the places where ESAVANA students learn; and 3) to increase the resilience of those communities and the environments where the projects are situated. It is our experience that in meeting these three aims, the international and cross-cultural relationships of ESAVANA become self-sustaining. This essay will offer an overview of the coursework as well as representative case studies of community-based projects that reflect these aims.
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Research Interests: Engineering, Earth Sciences, Geology, Remote Sensing, Atmospheric Aerosols, and 15 moreDesertification, Drylands, Biosphere, Soil moisture, Physical sciences, Research Method, Reviews, Human health, Research Priorities, Hot Spot, Dust, Large Scale, Aeolian Dust, Global Climate Model, and Biogeochemical Cycle
Literature related to post-secondary education suggests that institutions of higher education have at their core ‘a civic mission that calls on faculty, students, and administrators to apply their skills, resources, and talents to address... more
Literature related to post-secondary education suggests that institutions of higher education have at their core ‘a civic mission that calls on faculty, students, and administrators to apply their skills, resources, and talents to address important issues affecting communities, the nation, and the world’ conceptualized as ‘engaged scholarship’ (Stanton, 2008). In this article we illustrate the ways in which one study abroad program embraces a model of engaged scholarship though connections to a broader cross-cultural and interdisciplinary network. We demonstrate how long-term international collaborations and field-based experiential learning opportunities between US and southern African institutions reflect core principles of relationships, respect and reciprocity, providing opportunities for purposeful and culturally grounded transformative student learning experiences. One key aspect of this network was to design study abroad opportunities that create pedagogical alternatives that...
Research Interests: Sociology, Education, Transformative Learning, Assessment, International Education, and 11 moreStudent learning outcomes, Service Learning in Higher Education, Study Abroad, Experiential Learning, Teaching Methods, Transformative pedagogy, International Service Learning, Engaged Scholarship, Formative evaluation, Cultural Awareness, and community engaged scholarship
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
... line combustion coupled to the VG Prism Series II isotope ratio mass spectrometer (GC/C/IRMS). ... acid methyl esters in Mopane vegetation Abundance .^ ki^ JLjyjJLlKujUJ jU Figure 40.2 GC/MS trace ... from C4 vegetation burns would... more
... line combustion coupled to the VG Prism Series II isotope ratio mass spectrometer (GC/C/IRMS). ... acid methyl esters in Mopane vegetation Abundance .^ ki^ JLjyjJLlKujUJ jU Figure 40.2 GC/MS trace ... from C4 vegetation burns would im-ply that there is a different process of bond ...
ABSTRACT This copy is for non-commercial use only. More articles, perspectives, editorials, and letters can be found at www.sciencediplomacy.org. Science & Diplomacy is published by the Center for Science Diplomacy of the American... more
ABSTRACT This copy is for non-commercial use only. More articles, perspectives, editorials, and letters can be found at www.sciencediplomacy.org. Science & Diplomacy is published by the Center for Science Diplomacy of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), the world's largest general scientific society.
Research Interests:
A co-curricular approach to service-learning and community engagement (SLCE) designed to begin breaking through these institutional and personal silos that inhibit exchanges of knowledge between students, faculty and communities, is... more
A co-curricular approach to service-learning and community engagement (SLCE) designed to begin breaking through these institutional and personal silos that inhibit exchanges of knowledge between students, faculty and communities, is presented. This approach seeks to create a continuum of engagement and learning for students, faculty, and communities to redirect students and faculty away from the drive to solely produce a competitive product (or trophy) and toward an appreciation of the ongoing process of engagement. To construct this continuum, we draw on the idea of an intellectual apprenticeship. The students in this model serve as the apprentices, while the faculty, along with community partners and other colleagues, act as mentors in a guild of “artisans” dedicated to putting useful knowledge into action. We present the principles of engagement that underlay the entire process (respect, reciprocity and relationship), the stages of the apprenticeship, evidence that supports its e...
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
– This paper describes a sanitation project conducted by students from the
Research Interests:
The demonstration of a newly developed compact thermal imager (CTI) on the International Space Station (ISS) has provided not only a technology advancement but a rich high-resolution dataset on global clouds, atmospheric and land... more
The demonstration of a newly developed compact thermal imager (CTI) on the International Space Station (ISS) has provided not only a technology advancement but a rich high-resolution dataset on global clouds, atmospheric and land emissions. This study showed that the free-running CTI instrument could be calibrated to produce scientifically useful radiance imagery of the atmosphere, clouds, and surfaces with a vertical resolution of ~460 m at limb and a horizontal resolution of ~80 m at nadir. The new detector demonstrated an excellent sensitivity to detect the weak limb radiance perturbations modulated by small-scale atmospheric gravity waves. The CTI’s high-resolution imaging was used to infer vertical cloud temperature profiles from a side-viewing geometry. For nadir imaging, the combined high-resolution and high-sensitivity capabilities allowed the CTI to better separate cloud and surface emissions, including those in the planetary boundary layer (PBL) that had small contrast aga...
Research Interests:
. Analysis of formaldehyde measurements by the Pandora spectrometer systems between 2016 and 2019 suggested that there was a temperature dependent process inside Pandora head sensor that emitted formaldehyde. Some parts in the head sensor... more
. Analysis of formaldehyde measurements by the Pandora spectrometer systems between 2016 and 2019 suggested that there was a temperature dependent process inside Pandora head sensor that emitted formaldehyde. Some parts in the head sensor were manufactured from thermal plastic polyoxymethylene homopolimer (E.I. Du Pont de Nemour & Co., USA: POM-H Delrin®) and were responsible for formaldehyde production. Laboratory analysis of the four Pandora head sensors showed that internal formaldehyde production had exponential temperature dependence with a damping coefficient of 0.0911 ± 0.0024 °C−1 and the exponential function amplitude ranging from 0.0041 DU to 0.049 DU. No apparent dependency on the head sensor age and heating/cooling rates was detected. The total amount of formaldehyde internally generated by the POM-H components and contributing to the direct sun measurements were estimated based on the head sensor temperature and solar zenith angle of the measurements. Measurements in winter, during cold days in general and at high solar zenith angles (> 75 °) were minimally impacted. Measurements during hot days and small solar zenith angles had up to 1 DU contribution from POM-H parts. Multi-axis differential slant column densities were minimally impacted (
Page 1. EDITORIAL 403 JUN 2008, VOL. 33 Nº 6 Quando foi criado por acordo intergovernamental o 13 de maio de 1992, em Montevidéu, Uruguai, o Instituto Inte-ramericano de Investigações sobre a Mudança Global (IAI; www ...
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Research Interests: Remote Sensing, Time Series, Logistics, Biomass, Ecology, and 15 moreSouthern Africa, Carbon Cycle, Time series analysis, Logistic Regression, Seasonality, Elephants, Land Cover, Regression Analysis, Frequency, Logistic Regression Analysis, Land cover change, Environmental Conditions, Normalized Difference Vegetation Index, Dry Season, and Environmental factor
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Field-based, STEM-related service learning / community engagement projects present an opportunity for undergraduate students to demonstrate proficiencies related to the process of inquiry. These proficiencies include: appreciation of the... more
Field-based, STEM-related service learning / community engagement projects present an opportunity for undergraduate students to demonstrate proficiencies related to the process of inquiry. These proficiencies include: appreciation of the larger project context, articulation of an informed question/hypothesis, project proposal development, interdisciplinary collaboration, project management (including planning, implementation reconfiguration and synthesis) and lastly the generation and handing off of acquired knowledge. Calls for these types of proficiencies have been expressed by governmental, non-governmental as well as the private sector. Accordingly, institutions of higher learning have viewed such activities as opportunities for enriching the learning experience for undergraduate students and for making such students more marketable, especially those from STEM-related fields. This institutional interest has provided an opportunity to support and expand field-based learning. Here we present examples of student-led/faculty-mentored international service learning and community engagement projects along the arc of preparation, implementation and post-field process. Representative examples that draw upon environmental science and engineering knowledge have been selected from more than 20 international undergraduate student projects over past decade and include: slow-sand water filtration, rainwater harvesting, methane biodigesters, water reticulation schemes and development and implementation of rocket stoves for communal cooking. We discuss these efforts in terms of the development of the aforementioned proficiencies, the utility of such proficiencies to the larger enterprise of STEM and the potential for transformative student learning outcomes. We share these experiences and lessons learned with the hope that others may intelligently borrow from our approach in a manner appropriate for their particular context.
Research Interests:
Taking students into the field can offer a rich, grounded understanding of a particular environment and of a particular scientific approach to attaining a desired observation. Going into the field immerses students into coupled... more
Taking students into the field can offer a rich, grounded understanding of a particular environment and of a particular scientific approach to attaining a desired observation. Going into the field immerses students into coupled human-natural systems, which introduces two key elements to teaching: experiential learning and socio-cultural context. While these elements can greatly enrich student learning, instructors have to take extra steps to scaffold this learning. This scaffolding can present physical scientists with a challenge: how to reconcile views that such pedagogical activities are ‘extraneous’/not central to the pursuit of physical science. Here we offer perspectives as an anthropologist and as an environmental scientist on the value of a diverse pedagogical approach to conducting field studies involving students.
Insights drawn from facilitating a range of field experiences (e.g., short-term study abroad, service-learning and independent/supervised research both home and abroad) will be shared regarding approaches to scaffolding student learning. We will focus on an approach that the scholarship of teaching and learning has long shown to be effective - what can be called a “wrap-around” approach to the field: preparation before, support during, and reflection afterward. Of these steps, the post-trip reflection on the experience is a key, and often under-utilized, strategy, and suggestions as to why this are offered. This approach not only helps students understand better the course content, but it also helps them understand the role that socio-cultural context plays in shaping both the research and in the state of the environment. We illustrate these different dimensions of the field experience with examples from our courses.
Insights drawn from facilitating a range of field experiences (e.g., short-term study abroad, service-learning and independent/supervised research both home and abroad) will be shared regarding approaches to scaffolding student learning. We will focus on an approach that the scholarship of teaching and learning has long shown to be effective - what can be called a “wrap-around” approach to the field: preparation before, support during, and reflection afterward. Of these steps, the post-trip reflection on the experience is a key, and often under-utilized, strategy, and suggestions as to why this are offered. This approach not only helps students understand better the course content, but it also helps them understand the role that socio-cultural context plays in shaping both the research and in the state of the environment. We illustrate these different dimensions of the field experience with examples from our courses.