International Conservation & Development

Is rural China dying? The recent redoubling of the Chinese state’s efforts to shift rural people to urban areas seems to confirm what many have sensed: that, at the head of a worldwide urbanizing surge, China is leaving its agrarian legacy behind. Rural communities seem fated to depopulate, while industrial farms, concentrated animal feeding operations, and tree plantations will replace the family farms that once underpinned China’s economy and culture. Watchers are spellbound by urbanization that seems a fait accompli.

With conventional centrifugal (CEN) pumps, less than 50% of southern Bangladesh's farmers invest in irrigation, partly due to high diesel energy costs. New policies are prioritizing sustainable crop intensification in Bangladesh's delta. This objective is unlikely to be achieved without fundamental changes in the energetics and economics of irrigation. Where surface water is available, axial flow pumps (AFPs) may comprise part of the solution to this problem.

In South Asia, wheat is typically grown in favorable environments, although policies promoting intensification in Bangladesh's stress-prone coastal zone have resulted in expanded cultivation in this non-traditional area. Relatively little is known about how to best manage wheat in these unique environments.

Global change science is by essence multidisciplinary: it grows from the cross-pollination between a broad range of natural and social sciences. But one group of disciplines, the humanities, is often left outside of this conversation. What is their place in the research on global change?

Last week in an obscure stone building in Hobart Tasmania, representatives from 24 nations plus the European Union, sat in stiff dark suits around a large table, making decisions that will determine the fate of one of our great global commons, the Southern Ocean.

Sarah Lupberger has received a Fulbright-Clinton Placement in the Peruvian Ministry of Environment. In addition to her ministerial work, Ms. Lupberger hopes to research how mechanisms of coordination between ministries can be improved to better protect the country’s natural resources. Read more

As world leaders gather in Paris for the long-awaited COP21 climate talks, Switzer Fellows are among the leaders pushing for positive action on climate. They are serving in roles varying from country delegation members, UN representatives and supporting roles with NGOs, indigenous groups and providing necessary research and data to be used in the ensuing talks, negotiations and meetings.

There’s a lot on the line at the climate negotiations in Paris. Fellow Heather Coleman, among others, is there, working to make sure that whatever deal is made, that it’s a fair one for us all.