Frederi Viens, professor in the department of Statistics, at the George R. Brown School of Engineering and Computing, is leading a newly formed international consortium of research experts called the ‘SustainabilityLakeChad Group’, to uncover the complexities of Lake Chad’s uncertain hydrology and its effects on communities in its basin.
The overarching goal of the group – which comprises researchers from the United States, United Kingdom, Germany and Nigeria – is to look for simple and environmentally sustainable solutions for the betterment of livelihoods in the region, in farming, fishing, and pastoralism, with an understanding that future sustainability must include a discussion of the regional impact of climate change.
The group conducted an extensive survey in April 2024. Quadri Popoola, Prof. Vien’s mentee and a first-year PhD student at Rice, who happens to be from Nigeria, performed some of the key statistical analysis for that study.
This initial analysis revealed that the type of work activity the rural residents engage in, and the villages’ geographic location impact the recent changes and inconsistencies they have noticed in the weather conditions from year to year, affecting their activities. This underscores the complexity of this problem, and the care needed in its study.
Read more about this effort via This Day, a national Nigerian newspaper.