As a civil engineering researcher, James works to achieve impactful outcomes in international development using evidence-based research. His research focuses on how poor rural households make decisions about their basic needs, and evaluating how impactful international development programs have been in relation to their goals. James has worked primarily on infrastructure development projects in sanitation, water, housing, electricity, nutrition, and menstrual health in rural India, Cambodia, Vietnam, Bangladesh, Nepal, and Ghana.

As a professor of engineering design, James works to enable the next generation of engineers to design products and services using a holistic and human-centered perspective, focusing on the goal of improving people's lives. Designing with users in mind and striving to delight them makes design more successful and produces more positive impacts.

Outside of work, James volunteers as a firefighter in the mountains above Boulder and enjoys cooking, hiking, and travelling with his wife and two sons.

With research experience and a passion for sanitation and wastewater treatment, Kristen focuses on social acceptance of sanitation solutions in low-resource contexts, applications of low-tech wastewater treatment systems, and educating students on the engineering design process and sustainable design for developments contexts. She has experience in curriculum development, literature review, and teaching design of experiments and the engineering design process. Kristen has a strong interest in menstruation, including stigma, education, products and sanitation, and has worked in Kenya, Ghana and Tanzania. Outside of work, she enjoys hiking, traveling, and being an amateur forager. 

Matthew completed his Doctorate in Environmental Engineering at University of Colorado Boulder as a National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellow. His expertise includes the evaluation of an urban water supply intervention as well as the development of a monitoring and evaluation plan for a rural sanitation in challenging environments. He has international development experience in Sierra Leone, Cambodia, India, and Tanzania. In his spare time, Matthew volunteers with Rotary International and enjoys cooking, hiking, and snowboarding.