Aminata P Kilungo

Interests

Research

My research interest focuses on the intersection of human health, water and the environment so as to improve our understanding, and tailor appropriate interventions to ensure Global Public Health.

Teaching

One Health Global HealthWater, Sanitation and Hygiene (WaSH)Public Health in the 21st Century Infectious Diseases, Global Health and Development

Courses

Scholarly Contributions

Journals/Publications

• Chebet, J. J., Kilungo, A., Alaofè, H., Malebo, H., Katani, S., & Nichter, M. (2020). Local Perceptions, Cultural Beliefs, Practices and Changing Perspectives of Handling Infant Feces: A Case Study in a Rural Geita District, North-Western Tanzania. International journal of environmental research and public health, 17(9).
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  We report on the management of infant feces in a rural village in Geita region, Tanzania. Findings discussed here emerged incidentally from a qualitative study aimed at investigating vulnerability and resilience to health challenges in rural settings. Data was gathered through semi-structured focus group discussions (FDGs) with women ( = 4; 32 participants), men ( = 2; 16 participants), and community leaders ( = 1; 8 participants). All FDGs were audio recorded, transcribed verbatim and thematically analyzed using Atlas.ti. Respondents reported feces of a child under the age of six months were considered pure compared to those of older children. Infant feces were seen as transitioning to harmful at the point when the child began to eat solid food, resulting in their stool visually changing in appearance. Caregivers reportedly used soft implements to handle infant feces due to the belief that tools with hard surfaces would physically harm the child. Infant feces were disposed in environments around the house due to the belief that disposal in latrines would prevent developmental milestones and result in other perceived negative health outcomes for the child. Changing views expressed by participants suggest a window of opportunity to implement evidence-based and culturally relevant interventions to encourage the safe disposal of infant feces.
• Root, R. A., Root, R. A., Mclain, J. E., Mclain, J. E., Kilungo, A. P., Kilungo, A. P., Abrell, L. M., Abrell, L. M., Ramirez, M. D., & Ramirez, M. D. (2019). Partnering for action: community monitoring of harvested rainwater in underserved, rural, and urban Arizona communities. Water Resources IMPACT.
• Ramirez, M. D., Abrell, L. M., Kilungo, A. P., Mclain, J. E., & Root, R. A. (2019). Partnering for action: community monitoring of harvested rainwater in underserved, rural, and urban Arizona communities. Water Resources IMPACT.
• Abrell, L., Mclain, J. E., Buxner, S., Kilungo, A., Ramirez-andreotta, M. D., & Davis, L. F. (2018). Increasing Environmental Health Literacy through Contextual Learning in Communities at Risk.. International journal of environmental research and public health, 15(10), 2203. doi:10.3390/ijerph15102203
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  Environmental health literacy (EHL) has recently been defined as the continuum of environmental health knowledge and awareness, skills and self-efficacy, and community action. In this study, an interdisciplinary team of university scientists, partnering with local organizations, developed and facilitated EHL trainings with special focus on rainwater harvesting and water contamination, in four communities with known environmental health stressors in Arizona, USA. These participatory trainings incorporated participants' prior environmental health risk knowledge and personal experiences to co-create training content. Mixed methods evaluation was conducted via pre-post participant surveys in all four trainings (n = 53). Participants who did not demonstrate baseline environmental science knowledge pre-training demonstrated significant knowledge increase post-training, and participants who demonstrated low self-efficacy (SE) pre-training demonstrated a significant increase in SE post-training. Participants overall demonstrated a significant increase in specific environmental health skills described post-training. The interdisciplinary facilitator-scientist team also reported multiple benefits, including learning local knowledge that informed further research, and building trust relationships with community members for future collaboration. We propose contextual EHL education as a valuable strategy for increasing EHL in environmental health risk communities, and for building academia-community partnerships for environmental health research and action.
• Davis, L. F., Ramirez-Andreotta, M. D., McLain, J. E., Kilungo, A., Abrell, L., & Buxner, S. (2018). Increasing Environmental Health Literacy through Contextual Learning in Communities at Risk. International journal of environmental research and public health, 15(10).
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  Environmental health literacy (EHL) has recently been defined as the continuum of environmental health knowledge and awareness, skills and self-efficacy, and community action. In this study, an interdisciplinary team of university scientists, partnering with local organizations, developed and facilitated EHL trainings with special focus on rainwater harvesting and water contamination, in four communities with known environmental health stressors in Arizona, USA. These participatory trainings incorporated participants' prior environmental health risk knowledge and personal experiences to co-create training content. Mixed methods evaluation was conducted via pre-post participant surveys in all four trainings ( = 53). Participants who did not demonstrate baseline environmental science knowledge pre-training demonstrated significant knowledge increase post-training, and participants who demonstrated low self-efficacy (SE) pre-training demonstrated a significant increase in SE post-training. Participants overall demonstrated a significant increase in specific environmental health skills described post-training. The interdisciplinary facilitator-scientist team also reported multiple benefits, including learning local knowledge that informed further research, and building trust relationships with community members for future collaboration. We propose contextual EHL education as a valuable strategy for increasing EHL in environmental health risk communities, and for building academia-community partnerships for environmental health research and action.
• Kilungo, A., Powers, L., Arnold, N., Whelan, K., Paterson, K., & Young, D. (2018). Evaluation of Well Designs to Improve Access to Safe and Clean Water in Rural Tanzania. International journal of environmental research and public health, 15(1).
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  The objective of this study was to examine three well designs: drilled wells (20-30 m deep), closed dug wells (>5 m deep), and hand-dug open wells (
• Powers, L. S., Smith, H. D., Kilungo, A. P., Ellis, W. R., McKay, C., Bonnaccorsi, R., & Roveda, J. (2018). In Situ Real-Time Quantification of Microbial Communities: Applications to Cold and Dry Volcanic Habitats. Global Ecology and Conservation, 16. doi:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gecco.2018.e00458
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  We report field tests of an instrument using multi-wavelength excitation and detection of fluorescence capable of detection and discrimination of viable cells, non-viable cells (not metabolically active but not decomposed), and spores in extreme arid environments where low microbial abundances are expected. These new results are presented for cold and dry volcanic habitats worldwide, e.g., the arid core of the Atacama Desert, Mt. Kilimanjaro glacier and Kibo area, Pali Aike caldera, and the western US volcanic and desert soils in Utah, Idaho, Nevada, and California. Our results are comparable to previous studies reported in the literature for the same environments. We find these extreme environments there have a base level of ∼103 - 104 cells/g. This is the lower limit of detectable life on terrestrial soils, as we did not observe any quantities less than this, even though the described instrumentation is capable of such measurements. Samples from more conventional environments show much higher microbial cell densities, ca. 108 cells/g or higher, with this same instrument. This base level of microbial life is nearly equal in all the measurements from the extreme environments both hot and cold, and is likely controlled primarily by the sparse nutrients rather than temperature.
• Sandhaus, S., Ramirez, M. D., Kilungo, A. P., Wolf, A. M., Sandoval, F., & Henriquez, P. (2017). Combating Climate Injustices: An Informal Science and Popular Education Approach to Addressing Environmental Health Disparities.. Pedagogy in Health Promotion: The Scholarship of Teaching and Learning.
• Sandhaus, S., Ramirez-andreotta, M. D., Kilungo, A., Wolf, A. M., Sandoval, F., & Henriquez, P. (2018). Combating Climate Injustices: An Informal Science and Popular Education Approach to Addressing Environmental Health Disparities:. Pedagogy in health promotion, 4(4), 260-269. doi:10.1177/2373379917751476
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  As global warming worsens, addressing environmental health disparities and justice is increasingly important. This necessity is evident in southern metropolitan Tucson, Arizona, an area underserved...
• Ramirez-andreotta, M. D., Kilungo, A., Wolf, A. M., Vea, L., Spitz, A. H., Ramirez-andreotta, M. D., Ramirez, D. M., Kilungo, A., Estrella-sanchez, R., & Betterton, E. A. (2015). Pollution Prevention through Peer Education: A Community Health Worker and Small and Home-Based Business Initiative on the Arizona-Sonora Border.. International journal of environmental research and public health, 12(9), 11209-26. doi:10.3390/ijerph120911209
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  Government-led pollution prevention programs tend to focus on large businesses due to their potential to pollute larger quantities, therefore leaving a gap in programs targeting small and home-based businesses. In light of this gap, we set out to determine if a voluntary, peer education approach led by female, Hispanic community health workers (promotoras) can influence small and home-based businesses to implement pollution prevention strategies on-site. This paper describes a partnership between promotoras from a non-profit organization and researchers from a university working together to reach these businesses in a predominately Hispanic area of Tucson, Arizona. From 2008 to 2011, the promotora-led pollution prevention program reached a total of 640 small and home-based businesses. Program activities include technical trainings for promotoras and businesses, generation of culturally and language appropriate educational materials, and face-to-face peer education via multiple on-site visits. To determine the overall effectiveness of the program, surveys were used to measure best practices implemented on-site, perceptions towards pollution prevention, and overall satisfaction with the industry-specific trainings. This paper demonstrates that promotoras can promote the implementation of pollution prevention best practices by Hispanic small and home-based businesses considered "hard-to-reach" by government-led programs.
• Kilungo, A. P., Carlton-carew, N., & Powers, L. S. (2013). Continuous Real-time Detection of Microbial Contamination in Water using Intrinsic Fluorescence. Journal of Biosensors and Bioelectronics, 2013(01), 1-5. doi:10.4172/2155-6210.s12-002
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  With the rapid increase in global population, geographically changing drought conditions and the ensuing potential water shortage, water quality has become a major concern. In some extreme cases, such as Arizona, the population may have to switch and use recycled toilet water for potable use in the near future. However, our current monitoring methods for drinking water do not provide fast and reliable results to deal with these challenges. By using intrinsic fluorescence, microbial contamination in water can be monitored in real-time, continuously, without sample collection or contact and at very low concentration. The detection limit of the instrument designed specifically for this purpose and reported here is ~50 bacterial cells/L. By monitoring the fluorescence of cellular components of microorganisms, their concentrations and metabolic states (live, dead, spores) can be determined. These fluorophores include reduced pyridine nucleotides (RPNs), flavins, and cytochromes to distinguish live cells; cytochromes for dead cells; and calcium dipicolinic acid (DPA) for spores. By using this method, a wide range of microorganisms such as bacteria, protozoa, amoebae, fungi and other microorganisms can be detected

Presentations

• Joshi, N., Lopus, S., Corrie, H., Ernest, K., Davis, J., Kilungo, A. P., & Evans, T. (2021, October). COVID-19 Lockdowns: Linkage Between Lockdowns Induced Employment Disruption, Water Access and Hygiene Practices, in Informal Settlements in Nairobi. University of Arizona Resilience Symposium. The University of Arizona: University of Arizona.
• Kilungo, A. P. (2021, July). Addressing Human Health through One Health Lens. Arizona Science Teachers Symposium. Tucson, Arizona: N/A.
• Kilungo, A. P., McLain, J., Ramirez-Andreotta, M. D., & Moses, A. (2021, July). Microbial Water Quality in Harvested Systems. City of Tucson, Tucson Water. Tucson, Arizona: City of Tucson.
• Ramirez, M. D., Sandhaus, S., Sandoval, F., Kilungo, A. P., Mclain, J. E., Root, R. A., Abrell, L. M., Buxner, S. R., Kaufmann, D. B., Cortez, I., Theresa, F., Margaret, D., Lisa, O., Palawat, K., Norma, V., Annabelle, G., & Tasnim, A. (2021). Building a transdisciplinary, bilingual community science program to advance environmental health in underserved communities. Citizen Science AssociationCitizen Science Association.
• Rhys, D., Kloster, J., Morales, S., Eckert, B., Turner-Warren, T., Aseret-Manygoats, T., Ehiri, J., Riggs, S., Kilungo, A. P., & Warholak, T. (2021, November). Identification of medication-related problems among rural community-dwelling patients receiving telephonic medication therapy management services. Arizona Department of Health (ADHS) Mariposa Conference. Mariposa, Arizona: Arizona Department of Health (ADHS).
• Kilungo, A. P., Davis, R., & John, I. (2020, July). Tools to Evaluate Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) in Schools in Dare es Salaam, Tanzania. The 6th International Conference of Public Health 2020: Driving Innovation in Health and Healthcare in the Industrial Revolution 4.0. Bangkok, Thailand (Virtual).
• Ramirez, M. D., Rutin, E. J., Kilungo, A. P., Mclain, J. E., & Moses, A. J. (2020, October). The efficacy of hydrogen sulfide (H2S) tests for detecting microbial contamination in harvested rainwater samples. UNC Water and Health Conference. Chapel Hill, NC (Online): University of North Carolina School of Public Health.
• Kaufmann, D., Villagomez, N., Davis, L., Moses, A., Solis-Leon, J., Sandoval, F., Root, R. A., Kilungo, A. P., Mclain, J. E., Abrell, L. M., & Ramirez, M. D. (2019, March). Project Harvest Be Informed. Grow Smarter. Brown Bag Seminar,. Tucson, AZ: Water Research Resource Center, Villagomez-Marquez N. Davis L, and Kaufmann D,.
• Root, R. A., Kilungo, A. P., Mclain, J. E., Abrell, L. M., & Ramirez, M. D. (2019, April). Project Harvest: A Co-Created Citizen Science Rainwater Harvesting Program in Rural and Urban Arizona Communities. 2nd Cobre Valley Forum on Water. Globe, Gila County, Arizona..
• Sandoval, F., Ramirez, M. D., Davis, L., Abrell, L. M., Buxner, S. R., Mclain, J. E., Kilungo, A. P., Root, R. A., Root, R. A., Kilungo, A. P., Mclain, J. E., Buxner, S. R., Davis, L., Abrell, L. M., Sandoval, F., Ramirez, M. D., Sandoval, F., Abrell, L. M., Mclain, J. E., , Root, R. A., et al. (2019, March). Effect of environmental monitoring method on participant self-efficacy for science in underrepresented communities. Citizen Science Conference. Raleigh, North Carolina: Citizen Science Association.
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  Ramírez-Andreotta, M., L. Davis, S. Buxner, A. Kilungo, R. Root, J. McLain, L. Abrell, and F. Sandoval. Effect of environmental monitoring method on participant self-efficacy for science in underrepresented communities. Citizen Science Conference; Raleigh, North Carolina, March 17, 2019.
• Kilungo, A. P., Mclain, J. E., Ramirez, M. D., Abrell, L. M., & Root, R. (2017, September). Does the dose make the poison: the presence of metal(liods) in harvested rooftop rainwater. 14th Biennial Conference of Science & Management on the Colorado Plateau & Southwest Region.
• Root, R., Mclain, J. E., Kilungo, A. P., Ramirez, M. D., & Abrell, L. M. (2017, September). Survey of contaminants in harvested rainwater from a southern Arizona pilot study. 14th Biennial Conference of Science & Management on the Colorado Plateau & Southwest Region.
• Sandhaus, S., Sandoval, F., Root, R., Kilungo, A. P., Mclain, J. E., Abrell, L. M., & Ramirez, M. D. (2017, September). Community science: public participation in harvested water and soil monitoring. 14th Biennial Conference of Science & Management on the Colorado Plateau & Southwest Region.
• Sandoval, F., Root, R., Abrell, L. M., Ramirez, M. D., Kilungo, A. P., & Mclain, J. E. (2017, September). Teaching harvested rainwater microbiology in Arizona communities: lessons learned. 14th Biennial Conference of Science & Management on the Colorado Plateau & Southwest Region.

Poster Presentations

• Sandoval, F., Ramirez, M. D., Sandhaus, S., Abrell, L. M., Buxner, S. R., Root, R. A., Ochoa, L., Cortez, I., Davis, L., Mclain, J. E., Dewey, M., Kilungo, A. P., Kaufmann, D., Foley, T., Jones, M., Henriquez, P., Henriquez, P., Jones, M., Foley, T., , Kaufmann, D., et al. (2021). Engaging Diverse Communities for Environmental Health Justice. National Science Foundation’s AISL PI meetingNational Science Foundation.
• Flor, S., Kilungo, A. P., Buxner, S. R., Root, R. A., Mclain, J. E., Ramirez, M. D., Palawat, K., Villagomez-Marquez, N., Abrell, L. M., & Sonia, M. (2020, August). What's in your rainwater? Inorganic and organic contaminants measured in roof-harvested rainwater. KEYS Research Internship Showcase. Tucson, Arizona (Virtual): Keep Engaging Youth in Science Internship Program.
• Henson, C., Villagomez-Marquez, N., Abrell, L. M., Buxner, S. R., Kilungo, A. P., Mclain, J. E., Root, R. A., Sandoval, F., & Ramirez, M. D. (2020, October). Per-polyfluoroalkyl substances in roof-harvested rainwater. Emerging Contaminants Summit. Westminster, Colorado (Virtual).
• Kilungo, A. P., Mclain, J. E., Ramirez, M. D., & Moses, A. J. (2020, Fall). Understanding the microbial makeup and risks of alternative water sources in romaine lettuce and cilantro crops. American Public Health Association Annual Meeting and Expo. Virtual: APHA - American Public Health Association.
• Moses, A. J., Ramirez, M. D., Sandoval, F., Abrell, L. M., Buxner, S. R., Root, R. A., Obergh, V., Kilungo, A. P., Mclain, J. E., Mclain, J. E., Obergh, V., Kilungo, A. P., Root, R. A., Buxner, S. R., Sandoval, F., Abrell, L. M., Moses, A. J., & Ramirez, M. D. (2020, November). Indicator organism presence in urban and rural Arizona community garden soils watered with harvested rainwater. ASA-CSSA-SSSA International Annual Meetings. Virtual: Agronomy Societies.
• Villagomez-Marquez, N., Abrell, L. M., Buxner, S. R., Kilungo, A. P., Mclain, J. E., Root, R. A., Flor, S., Ramirez, M. D., & Chorover, J. D. (2020, October). Pesticides detected in roof-harvested rainwater in rural and urban Arizona communities. Emerging Contaminants Summit. Westminster, Colorado (Virtual).
• Samarasinha, R., Wrona, J., Mwambope, G., John, I., & Kilungo, A. P. (2019, April). Understanding Barriers to Improving Access to Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene (WaSH) in Rural Tanzania. Global Health & Innovation Conference.. Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut.: Yale University.
• Moses, A., Ramirez, M. D., Sandoval, F., Solis-Leon, J., Root, R. A., Abrell, L. M., Mclain, J. E., Buxner, S. R., Kilungo, A. P., Kilungo, A. P., Buxner, S. R., Mclain, J. E., Abrell, L. M., Root, R. A., Solis-Leon, J., Sandoval, F., Moses, A., & Ramirez, M. D. (2018, March). The volunteer army: a review of ethical concerns in citizen science. Science of the Environment Earth Day Poster Presentation. Tucson, Arizona: University of Arizona Department of Soil, Water and Environmental Science.
• Ramirez, M. D., Sandoval, F., Root, R. A., Mclain, J. E., Kilungo, A. P., Buxner, S. R., Abrell, L. M., Montijo, F., & Villagomez-Marquez, N. (2018, March). Investigating emerging organic contaminants in harvested rainwater via co-created citizen science: what is in your rainwater?. Science of the Environment Earth Day Poster Presentation. Tucson, Arizona: University of Arizona Department of Soil, Water and Environmental Science.
• Ramirez, M. D., Sandoval, F., Root, R. A., Mclain, J. E., Kilungo, A. P., Buxner, S. R., Abrell, L. M., Moses, A., & Soli-Leon, J. (2018, April). Socio-demographics in Citizen Science: Does Governance Model Matter. SWESx. University of AZ.
• Ramirez, M. D., Sandoval, F., Root, R. A., Mclain, J. E., Kilungo, A. P., Buxner, S. R., Abrell, L. M., Moses, A., & Solis-Leon, J. (2018, March). Socio-demographics in citizen science: does governance model matter?. Science of the Environment Earth Day Poster Presentation. Tucson, Arizona: University of Arizona Department of Soil, Water and Environmental Science.
• Ramirez, M. D., Sandoval, F., Root, R. A., Mclain, J. E., Kilungo, A. P., Buxner, S. R., Abrell, L. M., Solis, J., & Moses, A. (2018, April). The Volunteer Army: A Review of Ethical Concerns in Citizen Science.. SWESx. University of Arizona.
• Sandhaus, S., Kaufmann, D., Davis, L., Abrell, L. M., Buxner, S. R., Kilungo, A. P., Mclain, J. E., Ramirez, M. D., Root, R. A., & Sandoval, F. (2018, May). Advancing Informal Environmental Health STEM Learning through Co-Created Citizen Science. Teaching and Learning in the Food-Energy-Water Nexus: Toward a National and Collaborative for Food, Energy and Water Systems (NC-FEW).. Washington, DC.
• Villagómez-Márquez, N., Montijo, F., Abrell, L. M., Buxner, S. R., Kilungo, A. P., Mclain, J. E., Root, R. A., Sandoval, F., & Ramirez, M. D. (2018, April). Investigating emerging organic contaminants in harvested rainwater via Co-Created Citizen Science: What is in your rainwater?. SWESx. The University of Arizona.
• Henriquez, P., Sandoval, F., Wolf, A. M., Kilungo, A. P., Ramirez, M. D., & Sandhaus, S. (2017, March). Evaluating the Motivations, Knowledge, and Efficacy of Participants in Environmental Health Citizen Science Projects. University of Arizona SWESxUniversity of Arizona SWESx.
• Sandhaus, S., Ramirez, M. D., Wolf, A. M., Morales, F., Palmira, H., & Kilungo, A. P. (2016, November). Evaluating the Motivations, Knowledge, and Efficacy of Participants in Environmental Health Citizen Science Projects.. American Society of Agronomy, Crop Science Society of America, and Soil Science Society of America International Annual Meeting.. Phoenix, AZ: American Society of Agronomy, Crop Science Society of America, and Soil Science Society of America.