International Conservation & Development

From Dean James Stavridis of The Fletcher School at Tufts University: This month I speak with alumna Kelly Sims Gallagher, associate professor of energy and environmental policy at The Fletcher School, about her latest research, her upcoming book, and several exciting developments at the Center for International Environment and Resource Policy (CIERP), where she is the director.

A revolutionary University of Colorado Boulder toilet fueled by the sun that is being developed to help some of the 2.5 billion people around the world lacking safe and sustainable sanitation will be unveiled in India this month.

Surya Karki ’16 recently returned from London after attending the ceremony for the 2013 Unilever Sustainable Living Young Entrepreneur Awards, where he met His Royal Highness The Prince of Wales. Karki was one of seven finalists for the award.

Director and Lead Author Angel Hsu (2012) launched the 2014 Environmental Performance Index at the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting in Davos. The press briefing addresses the best and worst performers on Yale and Columbia Universities’ 2014 Environmental Performance Index, a global ranking of national-level environmental performance, introduce a new Global Scorecard that gives insight into global environmental performance over the past decade.

Biodiversity Research Institute (BRI) announced the completion of its first project in Mexico in alignment with its technical-scientific agreement signed in December 2012 with Mexico's federal environmental agency, the National Institute of Ecology and Climate Change (INECC). The three-week survey of beach contaminants for the State of Guerrero, an area that encompasses several major resorts including Acapulco, found strong evidence of environmental pollutants including plastics, mercury, and petroleum pollution along the coastline.

This paper examines transnational non-governmental organization (TNGO) influence on global, national, or local policy arenas, as well as how a TNGO’s actions in one arena might aid or encumber its effectiveness in another. It expands Steinberg’s spheres of influence framework (2001, 2003) to create a new capacity typology.

An open-source publication targeted to machinery manufacturers, engineers, researchers and development practitioners, this book describes and provides technical designs for small-scale agricultural machinery developed or produced in Bangladesh to support the sustainable intensification of agriculture by smallholder farmers. The focus is on smart, scale-appropriate equipment particularly for use with two-wheel hand tractors suited for the small plots typical throughout Bangladesh, but also in many countries where small-holder farmers predominate.

The 2014 Indo-American Frontiers of Engineering will be held May 19-21, at the Infosys Center in Mysore, India. About 60 outstanding engineers under the age of 45 will meet for an intensive 2-1/2 day symposium to discuss cutting-edge developments in four areas: Biomaterials, Water Resource Management in the Face of Climate Change, Green Approaches to Communications, and Engineering in the Context of Big Data.

The oil and natural-gas industry probably won't ever get a thank-you card from President Obama, but he has a few big reasons to be grateful for the fossil-fuel boom. America's vast resources of oil and natural gas have enabled Obama to move forward on aggressive policies, including tougher environmental rules and Iranian oil sanctions, which he would not have been able to do nearly as effectively without them.