Email: stoler@miami.edu
Phone: 305-284-6692
Justin Stoler, PhD
Associate Professor of Geography and Sustainable Development, and Public Health Sciences, at the University of Miami
Dr. Stoler is Associate Professor of Geography and Sustainable Development, and Public Health Sciences, at the University of Miami. He is trained in geospatial science and infectious disease epidemiology, and his research explores health disparities using social, environmental, and spatial epidemiological methods. He has more than a decade of experience studying drinking water and infectious diseases in Ghana, and he co-leads the Household Water Insecurity Experiences Research Coordination Network (HWISE-RCN), an international community of interdisciplinary water researchers. He also directs the Social & Health Inequities Research & Education (SHIRE) Lab, where social and environmental justice are front-and-center.
His research with the Pulte Institute seeks to re-conceptualize “successful” water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) projects and recommend a pathway toward more holistic evaluation of safe water interventions. Many WASH programs are still evaluated using a narrow notion of health that focuses on indicator bacteria and water quality, thereby missing opportunities to demonstrate the breadth of how water interventions improve people’s lives. The potential benefits span physical, environmental, and psychosocial health; socio-economic standing and social capital; political empowerment; increased time for education and livelihood activities; gender equity; and more. The ultimate goal is to strengthen global WASH commitments by transforming how we measure, evaluate, and communicate the success of water interventions.