University of Waterloo students from the faculties of Engineering and Environment spent four weeks in Ghana on a field course to explore issues of water insecurity and apply systems design thinking to complex environmental challenges.
The 12 undergraduate Waterloo students were hosted by Ashesi University. Through a range of immersive experiences and hands-on learning, the cohort investigated how technical, social and ecological systems affect the connection between water and health.
Alexa Bennett, a PhD candidate in the Faculty of Environment whose doctoral research examines the impacts of water insecurity on perinatal health in Ghana, led the course.
“I designed the course to challenge students to engage with water as an interdisciplinary problem,” Bennett said. “Water insecurity is rarely just a technical problem. In Ghana, water collection falls disproportionately on women and girls — a burden that compounds into health, economic and educational consequences.”
Katie Langille, a third-year Biomedical Engineering student, recalled a visit to the Nsofa Sacred Grove, an ecologically intact forest protected by the local Eshirow community. Langille came away with a "dual perspective"— an appreciation that cultural and spiritual understandings of the land can align with ecological and scientific understandings of why it should be protected.
"The people’s honour and respect for the land, their preservation and maintenance of it for cultural and spiritual reasons, pays them back in dividends," Langille said. "Protecting the trees promotes more rainfall, gives more shade, keeps temperatures lower — I think that was one of the most interesting things I learned."
The students also worked alongside their Ghanaian peers, including one team researching solutions for local e-waste contamination. The Waterloo group was impressed by the ethos at Ashesi, where students are explicitly encouraged to use their careers to strengthen their own communities.
"That was powerful and honestly quite inspirational,” Langille said. "It solidified that I want to be an engineer who works on solutions for people that are designed with their input — the people that are closest to the problem are closest to the solution."
Dr. Maud Gorbet, a professor in the Department of Systems Design Engineering, joined the trip as a faculty observer.
“The course gave students from across disciplines a systems thinking framework for seeing how water and health intersect at scale,” Gorbet said. "The experience will change the way they look at the world around them. It changed the way I look at water and health, and I was just an observer for ten days.
“Our partnership with Ashesi University is very important and trips like this help sustain the relationship and build ongoing connection.”
The field course, SYDE 599: Systems Studies in Environment, Water and Health, is supported by Waterloo Engineering alumni David J. Cornfield (BASc ’85, LLD ’24) and Linda Archer Cornfield (LLD ’24) as part of a transformative investment made in 2025 to the Department of Systems Design Engineering. Among other initiatives, the Cornfield gift supports Waterloo Engineering's commitment to building international partnerships through experiential learning.
The Department of Systems Design Engineering hopes to offer a 0.5 credit version of this course in May 2027. Interested students stay tuned.