Boise State University

02/04/2026 | Press release | Distributed by Public on 02/04/2026 18:18

Researching a world away: Curl spends sabbatical assessing pesticide education needs in Rwanda

Curl visits a local school preparing for survey administration.

School of Public and Population Health Associate Professor Cynthia Curl is no stranger to conducting research in far off locations. While Curl is most often found teaching, leading the Center for Excellence in Environmental Health and Safety and conducting pesticide research with local farmworkers, the last school year gave her the opportunity of a lifetime by taking her exposure science expertise to Rwanda.

Curl took a sabbatical for the 2024-25 school year to join Smithsonian Institute and University of Rwanda researchers in assessing pesticide use and corresponding health issues among men and women farmers in the Eastern Province of Rwanda. She leads the exposure science component of this project.

Curl and the research team took a "one health" approach to their work in Rwanda - a strategy that recognizes the health of people, animals, plants and the shared environment are all interconnected.

Curl took multiple week-long trips throughout her sabbatical, working closely with local smallholder farmers, agricultural officials and scientists to gain a better understanding of Rwanda's farming and livestock management practices. Curl's initial interviews with local officials suggested a high prevalence of preventable pesticide poisonings, ranging in severity from dizziness to neurological impairment and blindness to death.

The research team found that many farmers hand mixed pesticides without any protective gear or training and often used pesticides meant for crops on animals instead. With pesticide overuse comes pesticide resistance and without adequate training, farmers could be putting their health, animals and crops at risk.

Curl and the research team cook a meal together, alongside a local chef, in Kigali, Rwanda.

Because many pesticide products only offer English or Chinese language instructions, and access to basic personal protective equipment is cost-prohibitive, Rwandan farmers are encountering high barriers to safe pesticide practices and education.

"More personal protective equipment, education and awareness can truly be lifesaving," Curl said.

Last August, the team interviewed 200 Rwandan farmers to learn more about their pesticide use practices, risk perceptions and pesticide-related health concerns.

By working closely with local partners, Curl and the team will develop educational materials and programming to emphasize safe pesticide handling practices. Curl says she is hopeful that this increase in education will lead to a decrease in pesticide poisonings.

Although she stepped outside the classroom for the year, Curl continued mentoring her students. Arturo Valadez, a health studies and accelerated Master of Public Health student, worked as a research assistant on this project alongside Curl.

Valadez investigated the effects of the two most commonly used pesticides in Rwanda - profenofos and mancozeb - which are no longer registered for use in places like the U.S. (profenofs) and EU (mancozeb). Although this was Valadez's first time conducting research outside of class, he reviewed a wide array of scientific papers, government reports and toxicological databases and reported that information back to Curl and the research team.

"Everything felt new and a little intimidating," Valadez said. "I was stepping into unfamiliar territory, but I couldn't have asked for a better mentor."

Curl's sabbatical has concluded and she is back in the classroom, but she plans to continue this project and develop more educational opportunities alongside the research team.

"The gift of sabbatical is that I could spend my time giving my all to this research," Curl says.

Boise State University published this content on February 04, 2026, and is solely responsible for the information contained herein. Distributed via Public Technologies (PUBT), unedited and unaltered, on February 05, 2026 at 00:18 UTC. If you believe the information included in the content is inaccurate or outdated and requires editing or removal, please contact us at [email protected]