Biography
Dr. Lauren Broyles is currently a postdoctoral scholar in the Water, Health, and Nutrition Lab within the Department of Biobehavioral Health at Pennsylvania State University. Her research focuses on the connections between water resources, environmental conditions, and human health, particularly in vulnerable populations affected by climate variability and extreme weather events.
Dr. Broyles earned her Ph.D. in Civil Engineering with a concentration in Water Resources from Pennsylvania State University in 2023. Her dissertation examined the intersection of water resources and social and health outcomes in Bangladesh, with particular attention to flooding disasters and environmental seasonality. Through this work, she explored how climate-related environmental changes influence household water access, food security, and overall well-being.
Following the completion of her doctoral degree, Dr. Broyles completed an NIH-funded T32 postdoctoral fellowship at the Population Research Institute (PRI) at Pennsylvania State University in 2025. During this fellowship, she pursued additional training in the social and health sciences, enabling her to better define and measure health outcomes related to climate, environmental exposures, and extreme weather events affecting household water and food systems.
During this time, Dr. Broyles also expanded her research geographically to include Bolivia, Kenya, and Pennsylvania, representing both low- and high-income settings. Her work examines how environmental conditions and climate variability affect water and food security across diverse populations.
In Kenya, Dr. Broyles has established an active field site where she studies drivers and consequences of household water and food insecurity and undernutrition among Maasai pastoralist communities. Her research also explores household willingness to pay for water and food interventions and evaluates how these interventions influence household health and overall well-being.
