PhD student Jessica Eisma doesn’t see Purdue Civil Engineering only as a smart career path, but as a way to shape the world for the better.

In 2016, Eisma (MSCE ’15) was awarded a pair of prestigious research grants — totaling more than $45,000 — from the Fulbright U.S. Student Program and the U.S. Borlaug Fellows in Global Food Security Program to study the ecological impact of sand dams in Tanzania. She flew to Africa in August and will spend 12 months studying overseas.

In 2015, she was awarded a National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship to further pursue her graduate degree. The fellowship paid her tuition to Purdue University and provided a $34,000-a-year stipend for three years.

Sand Dams and Water Quality

Eisma, whose focus is in hydrology, says her desire to study sand dams stems from wanting to help create sustainable life for all people — and one of the keys to maintaining a stable society is through a safe and reliable source of water.

“I want to create knowledge that will guide development in the future,” she says. “My hope is that those who use these structures in the future will benefit from the added data I’ve found.”

Specifically, Eisma’s research will involve assessing the water quality around the dam by studying the water insects that eat the nearby algae and other vegetation.

“This will be a less expensive way to study and determine the water quality,” she says. “By studying the macroinvertebrates, we’ll be able to study the water quality. It’s very exciting research, especially since there’s been very little done so far, and sand dams have been around for hundreds — maybe even thousands — of years.”

A sand dam is a reinforced rubble-cement wall built across a seasonal sandy river. It is a simple, low-cost, low-maintenance technology that retains rainwater and recharges groundwater. Sand dams also are the most cost-effective method of water conservation in dryland environments.

Other sand dam quality factors Eisma is studying include the local water table and ground levels, vegetation around the dam and erosion.

“It’s a different way to assess the water quality of a dam, and it gives you a different look at how a stream has been impacted,” Eisma says.

Overseas Passion

This is Eisma’s second time helping and studying overseas. In 2011, she studied for six months in the Philippines at the University of the Philippines Los Baños. While there, she also interned with the Peace Corps and planned the building of a youth rehabilitation center. It was her time there, Eisma says, that galvanized her interest in using her civil engineering education to improve developing nations.

Faculty Support

Eisma says her efforts and interests have been greatly encouraged by Professor Dulcy Abraham and her advisor, Associate Professor Venkatesh Merwade.

“Not only is she very smart, but I felt this study she intends to do will be applicable in a number of other countries,” Merwade says. “She has a very unique idea, and I wanted to encourage that.”

“I first met Jessica through CESAC (Civil Engineering Student Advisory Council), and I was just so impressed with her,” Abraham adds. “Her striving toward excellence and her thinking about the bigger picture and the world around her makes her stand out.”

You can follow Eisma’s work in Tanzania through her website at jessicaeisma.com.