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NEWS ITEM
Dr. Lupita D. Montoya, Assistant Professor in the Civil, Environmental and Architectural
Engineering Department and affiliated faculty in the Mortenson Center in Engineering
for Developing Communities, has received a Fulbright Specialist grant in Public/Global
Health at La Salle University in Bogota, Colombia for Spring 2014.
Through this grant, Dr. Montoya will consult with faculty about air quality challenges in
Colombia and provide lectures for faculty, graduate, and undergraduate students on air
quality and public health. She will conduct needs assessment with schools and
government institutions about how to address local problems on air quality and public
health. These disciplines are currently unavailable at La Salle University. Through this
training, Columbian faculty can develop tools and knowledge to be more competitive in
obtaining funds to study effects of air pollution on health. Further, a group of
universities, local and federal government institutions, and NGOs have formed a Clean
Air Quality Committee to define air pollution abatement policies in Colombia. Exposure
to international experts, like Dr. Montoya, is desirable and may lead to a permanent
advisory position in the Clean Air Quality Committee.
Air pollution is currently a main environmental concern in Colombia, after natural
disasters and water sanitation. The World Bank has estimated that costs of urban air
pollution for Colombia are 1.1% of GDP. La Salle University has an undergraduate
program in Environmental Engineering with a population of over 1,000 students and
graduate programs in Energy and Environmental Management. Dr. Montoya will provide
training that would favor academic formation of Colombian students who can potentially
participate as policy makers in the future.
CU Boulder and La Salle University will use this exchange to try to formalize a
cooperation agreement to strengthen academic capabilities at both institutions. These
agreements usually include the exchange of students and faculty, mutual publications,
collaborative research projects, and curriculum strength.
It is notable to mention that Dr. Montoya received a similar grant in 2012 to visit the
Pontifical Catholic University in Chile, which led to research collaboration funded by the
Chilean government to study indoor air quality and health in Santiago, Chile. The first
results of that study have recently been submitted for publication.