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Research in Southern Ethiopia with Dr. Fouts and Lauren Bader

Child and Family Studies’ own Lauren Bader, PhD student, is back in Southern Ethiopia conducting research this summer. It is her second year in a village called Doko-Zolo located in the Gamo Highlands. In collaboration with Dr. Hillary Fouts, Bader is researching how environmental risk affects parenting and child development.

This study will help provide a bio-cultural perspective on how environmental risk relates to parents’ experiences and perceptions of risk. This research also addresses how parents’ perceptions affect the care of infants and toddlers among the Gamo people in Southern Ethiopia

Ethiopia Baby playing with toy

Lauren Bader is also working on a joint research project with Drs. Julia Jaekel and Hillary Fouts that aims to investigate traditional infant care patterns that may be protective of preterm infants. This summer Bader will be meeting with faculty at Arba Minch University and local health care centers in order to build a network of partners for the project.

Bader will return to the University of Tennessee in September. They plan to continue their future research within their network of collaborators in Abra Minch and Doko-Zolo.