Maes, Femke

Femke Maes is a FWO PhD fellow at Ghent University and at UNU-CRIS. She is affiliated to the Department of Economics at Ghent University where she investigates the impact of drinking water interventions in rural developing contexts.  Femke’s current research focuses on the one hand on a quasi-experiment to analyse the water quality and health impacts of communal taps. On the other hand, she conducts a randomized controlled trial to understand the impact of different household water treatment systems from a user-centered perspective.

Femke holds a Master of Sciences in Educational Sciences and a MSc in Economics from Ghent University. She built profound experience in organizing and coordinating field work in rural developing contexts. During her research stay at UC Berkeley she deepened her understanding of current development issues, drinking water interventions and research transparency in policy evaluations. 

During her PhD fellowship at UNU-CRIS, Femke will work under the supervision of Nidhi Nagabhatla within the Nature, Climate and Health Cluster. Femke will primarily work on the influence of precipitation and temperature on the effectiveness of household water treatments to fight childhood diarrheal disease.