Coping with Water Insecurity in Morocco
Households in Morocco, especially in the south, experience extremely high levels of water insecurity and engage in strategies to manage shortfalls. Dr. Collins pioneered a toolkit to measure how households cope with water insecurity that she plans to pilot in Morocco in Spring 2025. Dr. Collins’s research in Morocco is sponsored by the American Institute for Maghrib Studies (AIMS) and Tulane University’s Newcomb Institute. This research partners with Former Fulbright Scholar and PhD student, Sofyan Essarraoui. This project will allow for the development and refinement of a Water Insecurity Coping Strategies Index (WICSI), which will expand our knowledge of how households experience water insecurity and how they respond when quality, quantity, and reliability are insufficient. Dr. Collins also served as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Morocco and is looking forward to engaging in community-focused research there!
Drought and Gender-Based Violence
Dr. Collins is working with an interdisciplinary team with members from universities (Curtin University, Harvard University, Loyola University Chicago, University of Cape Town, and others) and UN organizations (UNAIDS, UN Population Fund, WHO) to identify the pathways by which drought increases the incidence and prevalence of gender-based violence, among other adverse outcomes for vulnerable women and girls.
Community Management of Acute Malnutrition in Yemen
Working with an NGO based in Yemen, Dr. Collins is conducting research on innovative methods for community management of acute malnutrition that are low-cost, easy to use, and sensitive enough to detect malnutrition among children under-5 and pregnant and lactating individuals.
Resilience Food Security Activity Evaluation in Haiti
Dr. Collins is on a team of researchers evaluating the impacts of a multi-year USAID Bureau for Humanitarian Assistance (BHA) funded Resilience Food Security Activity (RFSA) in Haiti. Assistance will include community-level training on nutrition and nutritious foods, promotion of climate-smart crops, financial education, food vouchers, and multi-purpose cash assistance (MPCA) to meet the basic needs of families, local vendors, and youth.Research from this project will inform a better understanding of the impacts of a food assistance and care group intervention on health and food security outcomes. Additional research explored through this project include the relationship between food and water insecurity, the impact of water insecurity on infant feeding, and the relationship between food insecurity, water insecurity, and resilience.
Water as a weapon of war in Gaza
Dr. Collins, working with an interdisciplinary team comprised of geographers/geospatial analysts (https://www.conflict-damage.org), epidemiologists, an anthropologist, and a hydrogeologist is working to outline the extent of the ongoing water crisis in Gaza (pre- to post-October 7, 2023). Dr. Collins is also a Palestinian American Research Center Faculty Development Seminar Fellow.
USAID Bureau For Humanitarian Assistance (BHA) FY 2020/FY 2021COVID-19 Supplemental Award Evaluation
On March 11, 2021, the United States Congress passed the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) to continue the COVID-19 pandemic response. BHA funded 187 awards across 46 countries plus global and regional awards with the ESF FY 2021 Supplemental. The goal was to address the humanitarian needs of the most vulnerable populations arising from and/or exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic.
As an unprecedented global emergency, BHA recognized the importance of evaluating the performance and key learning of this response. BHA commissioned an independent evaluation team (ET) from Technical Assistance to Non-Governmental Organizations (TANGO) International and Tulane University through the LASER PULSE funding mechanism (Long-term Assistance and Services for Research Partners for University-Led Solutions Engine of Purdue Applied Research Institute).
Dr. Collins is leading the Performance Evaluation of Protection Sector (child protection, mental health and psychosocial support–MHPSS, and prevention of violence against girls and women) activities and a Thematic Evaluation of the impacts of surge funding on USAID, its Implementing Partners, and individuals who received humanitarian assistance. Dr. Collins and team will also be documenting how households cope with water insecurity in humanitarian crisis settings.
The photo featured here was taken in Azraq Refugee Camp in Jordan during fieldwork for this evaluation.
Graduation to Resilience Among Congolese Refugees in Uganda
Dr. Collins led qualitative research on social cohesion among Congolese refugees and Ugandan Host Country Nationals in Rwamwanja Refugee Settlement. This work underpinned assignment into randomized control groups and yielded critical insights into drivers of social reciprocity, trust, and cohesion in this community.
Household Water Insecurity Experiences Scale (HWISE)
Despite its obvious importance for health and well-being, until a few years ago, we were unable to comparably measure water insecurity across diverse ecological settings. Although there are myriad national, regional, community, and hydrologic indexes of water availability, no cross-cultural scales existed to measure water insecurity at the level it is most acutely experienced: the household. Dr. Collins was on the core leadership team that implemented the Household Water InSecurity Experiences (HWISE) study to develop this much-needed tool. The HWISE survey was validated in 28 global sites and the individual version of the tool (IWISE) has been used as a priority WASH indicator for WHO/JMP, has been used across numerous Gallup World Poll countries, was featured at Stockholm World Water Week (among other venues), and is changing the way that we measure water insecurity worldwide. Learn more here!
Pith Moromo/Pii Ngima Food and Water Insecurity Among Pregnant and Postpartum Women and their Infants
Dr. Collins was the Senior Research Manager for “Pith Moromo,” an observational cohort study in western Kenya in which we sought to understand the potential role and importance of food insecurity on the physical and psychosocial health and nutritional status of HIV-infected and -uninfected pregnant and lactating women. Pii Ngima was the follow-up study to Pith Moromo. In this study, we implemented a household-level water insecurity scale validated for this region. We are assessing a range of outcomes linked to water insecurity, such as HIV outcomes, hydration status, maternal depression, stress, food insecurity, and child cognitive development.
PreNAPS/PostNAPS
Dr. Collins was the Senior Research Manager for “PreNAPS/PostNAPS,” an observational study that enrolled pregnant women and their infants longitudinal cohort assessing the impacts of food insecurity and HIV on maternal and child health and nutrition outcomes in post-conflict northern Uganda (Gulu, Uganda).