Research
Research and real-world impact
Economic exclusion, humanitarian emergencies and environmental degradation create complex challenges for the world's most vulnerable communities. These challenges demand innovative solutions. The Meyer Business on the Frontlines Program integrates business research from Notre Dame's HOPE Lab and REEL Lab and its faculty to address these interconnected global realities with depth and impact. In this collaborative ecosystem, academic research directly informs field practice, and community-based insights inspire new research directions.
Publications
Chengcheng Zhai, Rodney Parker, Kurt Bretthauer, Jorge Mejia, and Alfonso Pedraza-Martinez, 2026 Keep the Water Flowing: The Hidden Crisis of Rural Water Management, Manufacturing & Service Operations Management.
Winner, Service Science Best Cluster Paper Award, INFORMS, 2024.
Featured in “Handpumps bring water to rural African communities, but many are broken – study models how best to maintain them.” The Conversation, March 30, 2026.
Marcantonio, R.A., The Environment in Conflict: Implications and Pathways, Cambridge University Press, 2026.
Marcantonio, R.A., Adams E., Foucault-Camm H., Katongole E., Ojeifo E., Integral Ecology for the Anthropocene: Africa and Beyond, Springer Nature, 2026.
Bartkus, V.O., Brooks, W., Kaboski, J.P. and Pelnik, C., 2022. Big fish in thin markets: Competing with the middlemen to increase market access in the Amazon. Journal of Development Economics, 155, p.102757.
Under review
Marcantonio, R.A., Bolster, D., Tank, J., Regenerative Adaptation for Peacebuilding: an Emergent Response to Polycrisis. Forthcoming in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
Mejia, J., A.J. Pedraza-Martinez. Operations Management for Durable Peace: Grand Challenges in the Transition from Armed Conflict to Peace. Minor Revision at Manufacturing & Service Operations Management (OM Grand Challenges Special Issue).
Zhai, C., Bretthauer, K., Mejia, J. Parker, R., Wowak, K. Keep the Water Flowing: Ensuring Sustainable Water and Sanitation for All. Major Revision at Manufacturing & Service Operations Management (OM Grand Challenges Special Issue).
The research-practice nexus
Our students collaborate with partners on the ground to improve economic outlooks, while our researchers develop evidence-based interventions informed by world-class business research in humanitarian operations and environmental peacebuilding. Course work and research contribute to both immediate community needs and long-term sustainable development.
A Malawian NGO, Fisherman’s Rest, is one of the research participants in Zhai's Keep the Water Flowing paper. Fisherman’s Rest is also partnering with students in Business on the Frontlines course to explore new revenue sources to sustain its community programs.
Humanitarian operations expertise HOPE Lab's focus on humanitarian operations management offers students understanding in optimizing post-disaster recovery and development operations. They work with data and insights that strengthen humanitarian responses, ensuring business solutions build long-term resilience to natural disasters, armed conflicts and the growing impacts of climate change.
Environmental solutions and economic prosperity Through the REEL Lab (Regenerating Ecologies and Economies for Livelihoods), students and researchers explore how environmental consensus can become a pathway to peace and prosperity. Projects address the complex intersection of environmental issues and societal conflicts, developing sustainable policies that reduce environmental impact while creating economic opportunities.
