Sera Young

Background

About Sera Young

Hi, I'm Dr. Sera L. Young, a Professor of Anthropology and Global Health at Northwestern University. As an applied nutritional anthropologist, I research to better understand how mothers cope to preserve their health and their family’s health, especially when they’re in low-resource settings. My current research thinks about water in a new way. Mothers and families are so vulnerable to water insecurity, the inability to reliably access and use water to meet basic domestic needs. Water insecurity can be caused by problems with water availability, accessibility, acceptability, safety, or reliability. We can better understand ways people experience problems with water by quantifying human experiences with problems with water, and unpacking their consequences for nutrition, health, and well-being. My team developed the Water Insecurity Experiences (WISE) Scales, the first cross-culturally equivalent way of measuring water access and use. Nearly 100 organizations and researchers around the world have implemented or intend to implement the WISE Scales. We can better understand ways people experience problems with water so that terrible experiences people face don't remain unseen. Together, we can make a difference for the global public good. Let’s connect here on LinkedIn. We're grateful to the National Institute of Child Health and Disease, the Hilton Foundation, the National Science Foundation, the National Institute of Mental Health, the Leverhulme Trust, Buffet Global Working Group, and National Science Foundation (NSF) Convergence RAISE for their support of current research.