Renee Botta is on the faculty of the Department of Media, Film &

Journalism Studies ''Journalism Studies'' is a bimonthly peer-reviewed academic journal covering communication studies as it pertains to journalism. It was established in 2000 by Bob Franklin (Cardiff University), who served as its editor-in-chief until stepping dow ...

at the

University of Denver The University of Denver (DU) is a private research university in Denver, Colorado, United States. Founded in 1864, it has an enrollment of approximately 5,700 undergraduate students and 7,200 graduate students. It is classified among "R1: D ...

where she has conducted research on the relationship between media use and

eating disorder An eating disorder is a mental disorder defined by abnormal eating behaviors that adversely affect a person's health, physical or mental health, mental health. These behaviors may include eating too much food or too little food. Types of eatin ...

s among adolescents from diverse populations. She earned a Ph.D. in 1998 from the

University of Wisconsin-Madison A university () is an institution of tertiary education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. ''University'' is derived from the Latin phrase , which roughly means "community of teachers and scholars". Uni ...

. At the

she teaches courses in health communication, mass communication & public relations in many different graduate and undergraduate courses. Her main focus of work away from the University has been about increasing sanitation and clean water in slums such as

Kibera Kibera (Kinubi language, Kinubi: ''Forest'' or ''Jungle'') is a division and neighbourhood of Nairobi, Kenya, from the city centre. Kibera is the largest slum in Nairobi, and also the largest urban slum in all of Africa. The 2009 Kenya Popul ...

Early life

Renee Botta earned her bachelor's degree from the

in 1987, she also earned her master's degree in 1989 as well as a Ph.D. in 1998 from the

. She is currently not the Chair of the Department of Media, Film & Journalism Studies at the

Accomplishments

Renee is well known as the author of the 7th-most frequently cited article in Journal of Communication, which is one of the most prestigious academic journals in the world that publishes research on communication. You can find her published work on the International Communication Association website., In 1999 Botta contributed an article called; 'Television images and adolescent girls' body image disturbance' in the Journal of Communication. The article talks about the impact the media has had on people's view of body image as well as studies that Botta has done on eating disorders. Then in 2003 while at

Cleveland State University Cleveland State University (CSU) is a public research university in Cleveland, Ohio, United States. It was established in 1964 and opened for classes in 1965 after acquiring the entirety of Fenn College, a private school that had been in oper ...

Botta was a part of the

Fulbright Program The Fulbright Program, including the Fulbright–Hays Program, is one of several United States cultural exchange programs with the goal of improving intercultural relations, cultural diplomacy, and intercultural competence between the people ...

, which is an International education exchange program. She taught at the

University of Zambia The University of Zambia (UNZA) is a public university located in Lusaka, Zambia. It is Zambia's largest and oldest learning institution. The university was established in 1965 and officially opened to the public on 12 July 1966. The language of ...

and conducted research on how people communicate about

AIDS The HIV, human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) is a retrovirus that attacks the immune system. Without treatment, it can lead to a spectrum of conditions including acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS). It is a Preventive healthcare, pr ...

in their everyday life. Currently Renee Botta is the chair and Associate Professor in the Department of Media, Film & Journalism Studies at the

. Renee Botta's primary areas of expertise include health communication, communication campaigns, health and media effects, and international heath communication. She is also highly qualified in many other areas, which include but are not limited to: advertising, broadcast media,

social psychology Social psychology is the methodical study of how thoughts, feelings, and behaviors are influenced by the actual, imagined, or implied presence of others. Although studying many of the same substantive topics as its counterpart in the field ...

, human communication, women's issues, health and wellness, and the sanitation and hygiene in

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent after Asia. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 20% of Earth's land area and 6% of its total surfac ...

. Renee Botta has made contributions to the book ''Taking a Bite Out of Crime The Impact of the National Citizens Crime Prevention Media Campaign'' which goes over topics such as crime prevention scholars, law enforcement practitioners, and media experts, and focuses on examining the power of the media to influence people's attitudes and behaviors.

Global Involvement

Sanitation has become an increasingly large problem for small informal villages, better known as slums all around the world. The problem has increased to the point where one in every five children die before the age of five in the informal settlement of Kibera in

Nairobi Nairobi is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Kenya. The city lies in the south-central part of Kenya, at an elevation of . The name is derived from the Maasai language, Maasai phrase , which translates to 'place of cool waters', a ...

. The cause can be attributed to lack of clean water. Botta worked with other Faculty from the University of Denver, who include Randall Kuhn, Karen Loeb, and Peter Van Arsdale, as well as students from

University of Nairobi The University of Nairobi (uonbi or UoN; ) is a college, collegiate research university based in Nairobi and is the largest List of universities and colleges in Kenya, university in Kenya. Although its history as an educational institution dat ...

to develop a sustainable and scalable model for sanitation and clean water. The main focus for Botta and her team were to improve the health conditions as well as conditions economically in Kibera through their model

Research

The solution that Botta and her team came up with consists of a "stool" method. The top 'seat' of the stool consist of facility, infrastructure, and the best technologies for waste removal, water storage, and water purification. A few of these modern technology are water catchment systems, bio-gas, and gravity bed leach fields. Their solution, however, consists of not only technology and infrastructure but also the support of governance from public and private sectors, business planning which influences sustainable management, and finally health and hygiene training for the people of the slums. These three areas make up the 'legs' of the stool. With this system, sustainable operations and improved health are promoted. Botta's research in Kibera helped to educate the native women living in the slums on how to treat their drinking water and improve the overall health of their families. The family's houses contained no running water. The DU project was granted $300,000. With that money they provided water, flushing toilets, and showers.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Botta, Renee University of Denver faculty University of Wisconsin–Madison alumni