Indiana State grad helping soldiers beat the heat in Iraq
TERRE HAUTE, Ind. - An Indiana State university graduate is using the skills learned while studying birds in the Wabash Valley to help soldiers in Iraq deal with desert heat while wearing chemical protective clothing.
"It sometimes seems like a long leap from studying the behavior and thermal environment of red-winged blackbirds in the marshes around Terre Haute to research in support of soldiers but many of the skills and knowledge are indeed transferable," says Bill Santee.
As a graduate student in what is now the department of ecology and organismal biology, Santee completed a PhD in life sciences at Indiana State in 1985. He is now a research physical scientist with the U.S. Army Research Institute of Environmental Medicine, an organization that conducts basic and applied research to determine how exposure to extreme environments and other factors affect the health and performance of military personnel.
While birds do not perspire and perspiration is one of the most important ways for humans to cope with heat, water vapor through clothing is either impaired or blocked when humans wear different types of protective clothing, he explains.
"Hence, under some circumstances, soldiers encapsulated in chemical-protective clothing may have more in common with birds than people wearing ordinary summer clothing. An ongoing objective of the Army is to select chemical protective clothing that is more permeable to water vapor, thus allowing sweat to evaporate and cool the body," Santee says.
The Minnesota native is part of a team helping test clothing that will protect soldiers and emergency workers from exposure to potentially harmful chemicals while still allowing perspiration to escape so the body's natural cooling process can work in the Iraqi desert, where summer temperatures routinely reach 115 degrees.
Santee and his co-workers have conducted a series of human studies in environmental chambers and in the field to determine what clothing works best. They have also measured the physical properties of clothing, insulation and water vapor permeability in thermal mannequins, which function in virtually the same manner as heated bird models Santee and George Bakken, professor of ecology and organismal biology, built and used at Indiana State to estimate heat loss to the environment.
Instead of feathers, the human studies involve the use of different clothing combinations on the mannequins.
"The differences in power demand in a constant environment determine the insulation of the clothing," Santee explains. "The mannequins are also run wet to determine the potential for evaporative loss. Data from the human studies, and the clothing properties measured with the thermal mannequins, are then incorporated into thermal models that predict the heat load experienced during different activities in varying environments."
Bakken said Santee did excellent work while at ISU. "The two papers we published that were based on his PhD dissertation have been cited by 102 subsequent scientific papers. This is far above average and indicates that the work he did here has been highly valued by other scientists," he said.
"I was quite pleased that he was able to join the Army Research Institute at Natick (Mass.), as it has an outstanding scientific reputation. Bill has been able to publish over 25 scientific papers in addition to his primary work of providing our servicemen and women with the best equipment in the world."
In addition to gaining valuable scientific skills and knowledge while at Indiana State, Santee also learned the importance of working with other scientists as part of a team.
"When working with other individuals with other skills sets and areas of expertise, a broad-based knowledge set and adaptability, which I developed at ISU, are essential to the success of the group."
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Contact: George Bakken, professor of ecology and organismal biology and director, Center for Biodiversity Studies, Indiana State University, (812) 237-2396 or lsgsb@isugw.indstate.edu
Writer: Dave Taylor, media relations director, Indiana State University, (812) 237-3743 or dave.taylor@indstate.edu
ISU Communications and Marketing: (812) 237-3773 or http://www.indstate.edu/news
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