Research and Innovation
Innovating in the sanitation sector
SOIL's extensive research program is pushing the sanitation sector forward through innovative discovery, research, and design initiatives to better understand essential service delivery in complex, low-resource, urban communities.
Our research is focused on expanding sector knowledge and contributing to the global conversation on how to effectively respond to the worldwide sanitation crisis. SOIL's team partners with academic institutions to publish research findings and shares lessons learned at global conferences.
SOIL's Research Highlights
Household Subsidies
SOIL is testing the EquityTool, a country-specific wealth survey, to determine the effectiveness of its use for reliably helping to identify at-risk households that may be eligible for reduced fee options for the EkoLakay service.
Climate Finance
SOIL's waste treatment methodology is mitigating ~ 0.7MT of CO2eq per household per year. The SOIL team is exploring opportunities to turn this climate impact into revenue to support the household service.
Baseline Sanitation Survey
The collection of baseline sanitation data in high risk priority zones in the Cap Haitian region to understand sanitation ownership, access and household needs and strategies for equitable sanitation service offerings.
Results-Based Financing
In late 2023 SOIL is piloting an outcomes-payment model in partnership with other stakeholders. Outcome payments will be tied to increase in households on the service and positive sanitation behavior change.
Meet SOIL's Research Team
Maya Lubeck-Schricker
Maya holds an MS in Epidemiology from the University of Washington and specializes in study design and quantitative data analysis to strengthen evidence-based decision-making and address operational challenges within SOIL’s sanitation service. Her career in global health began at Tufts University, working with Dr. Ramnath Subbaraman on projects examining tuberculosis treatment adherence as well as associations between legal and water access in Indian slums. She later consulted for the Gates Foundation on initiatives spanning the burden of Shigella in the Americas, vaccine investment strategy, climate-related health risks, gender equity in health R&D, and the role of AI in global health. Maya now brings this cross-cutting research background to advancing safe, sustainable sanitation in Haiti and beyond.
Bridj Ozeris
After completing his dissertation at the Université Chrétienne du Nord d’Haïti (UCNH), where he explored the intersection of agronomy and social issues, Bridj developed a strong interest in environmental and social justice. This commitment led him to join SOIL in 2021 through the Black Soldier Fly Project, where he has continued to expand his research expertise, particularly in the field of sanitation in Haiti.
Miselie Fanor Pierre
Miselie began working in the WASH sector in 2014, supporting underserved communities and strengthening health institutions through organizations such as the American Red Cross and Save the Children. In 2023, she joined SOIL to further her work with vulnerable communities by advancing safe sanitation research and services.
Latest Blogs on SOIL's Research
Meet Winnie: SOIL's Research, Innovation and Advocacy Director
We’re thrilled to introduce SOIL’s new Research, Innovation and Advocacy Director, Winnie Felix-Jean! Winnie comes to us with a background in microbiology and global public health advocacy and with many years of experience with both clinical research and project management. Winnie has worked as a....
SOIL Visits Sanima in Peru
SOIL’s Chief Operating Officer Nick Prenta and Research Associate Maya Lubeck-Schricker traveled to Lima, Peru last month to meet up with fellow research partners from the Off Grid Cities project for a series of presentations and discussions about progress to date, challenges faced, and steps....
SOIL RESEARCHERS MAKE DATA PUBLICLY AVAILABLE
Since the fall of 2022, Haiti has faced escalating instability, a scarcity of goods and services, and ongoing political unrest. While these challenges affect the population at large, it is often the country’s most vulnerable citizens who shoulder the heaviest burden during difficult times – their....
SOIL Grows Through it All
Since its founding in 2007, SOIL has been working to provide regenerative and life-saving sanitation services to meet the vastly unmet need for improved sanitation in Haiti, particularly in urban and peri-urban areas. SOIL’s flagship household service, EkoLakay, was first piloted in Cap-Haitien in....
SOIL Attends Sustainable Sanitation Consortium in Cape Town
This past September, SOIL Research Associate Maya Lubeck-Schricker traveled to Cape Town, South Africa to attend a research consortium meeting for the Off Grid Cities project. She joined researchers from Cranfield University (UK), University of Leeds (UK), Pontificia Universidad Católica del Perú....
Papers to Practice Podcast: SOIL’s Dr. Sasha Kramer and Research Partner, Dr. Rebecca Ryal discuss GHG Emissions and Waste
Last week, SOIL Executive Director Dr. Sasha Kramer, was featured, along with research partner, Dr. Rebecca Ryals of UC Merced, on the Papers to Practice podcast to talk about some of the research they have done to better understand the positive environmental impacts of SOIL's service and waste....
Expanding SOIL’s Data Concepts and Analyses Using DataCamp
SOIL's Research & Operations teams collaborating SOIL’s research team is always looking for ways to improve our EkoLakay processes so that we can continue to provide our customers with the highest quality sanitation service. To do so, the team regularly undertakes projects and analyses that inform....
Strategies for Change: SOIL’s Partnership with Appleseed
SOIL’s mission is to deliver safe, dignified, and affordable ecological sanitation services to households in Haiti and to increase sanitation access for all who want and need it. As readers of our blog know, one of the ways we do this is by providing in-home toilets and removing waste from....
Generating Evidence to Improve Customer Payment Behavior Interventions for CBS Service in Haiti
In April 2022, SOIL launched a new research project in partnership with Appleseed, a behavioral research agency, to better understand and evaluate customer payment behavior, and develop strategies on how to encourage EkoLakay household sanitation customers to regularly pay the monthly fee for the....
Breeding in Progress: Updates on SOIL’s BSFL Research
SOIL's black soldier fly rearing unit containers, provided in partnership with USAID. In 2019, the SOIL Research Team began testing out the possibility of using black soldier fly larvae (BSFL) as a method of transforming waste from our EkoLakay sanitation service into protein-rich larvae that can....