After deciding what my research topic was next I needed to figure out what city I wanted to focus my research. I did some research on the different ways weastewater was being managed in different towns and cities in Iceland. After reading a plethora of articles I stumbled upon a student lead survey about weastwater treatment in Akureyri. This peaked my interest as I was struggling to fine research based in Iceland on this topic.
I decided to email the organizers asking for more information and maybe some tools on how to get started on this kind of project. They responded and I ended up asking the the head of the project to be my advisor.
Before I explain how I did my research I thought it would be a good idea to include the abstract of I wrote for my research paper as an introduction to my project.
Abstract:
Wastewater management is an important field that is responsible for cleaning and regulating what is released into water bodies. Wastewater in the arctic is not thought of much due to these communities' small size. Natalie's survey research showed that there needs to be more discussion about how wastewater is being managed in Akureyri. So here we investigate the community's personal opinions on wastewater management in Akureyri. Specifically, we investigated how residents of Akureyri feel about current wastewater management practices in Akureyri, Iceland. We interviewed four residents of the town and we found that terminology, economics, and health & safety were common themes throughout the interviews. Our research identifies a critical need for better understanding about the issue of wastewater management and treatment in Akureyri, Iceland.
