Ohio State - College of Food, Agricultural, and Environmental Sciences natural resource management major Matheus De Nardo interned for an international fair trade coffee company in Peru. "By working alongside local sustainable development professionals, Reach’s mission is to offer coffee for water, water for life, and life for the pursuit of happiness. For each sale of their coffee products, a portion of the proceeds goes towards supplying clean and sustainable water to the people of Peru, who, as of yet, do not have access to it. My primary responsibilities included meeting with Peruvian coffee farmers in the Amazonian foothills to help improve coffee quality and yields, working with local professionals in Lima on sustainable water projects in impoverished human settlements, and creating an adaptive strategy to bring Reach’s efforts to Ohio State. More specifically, one of my projects involved interviewing the residents of two human settlements who lack access to clean water in order to assess the most effective manner to implement water piping and filtration systems. Another project involved addressing issues of land degradation resulting from deforestation for coffee cultivation and informing coffee farmers of the benefits of preserving ecosystem services for the environment and for the quality of their coffee. Overall, my firsthand experiences interning in Peru allowed me to better understand the struggles of populations in developing countries who lack access to one of life’s most important resources: water. http://studentblogs.cfaes.ohio-state.edu/2013/05/reaching-for-peru/

Thanks to Gordon Gee for sharing our links to many study abroad blogs!