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The photo at the right (circa 1986) was taken during a trip to the
Karakoram in Northern Pakistan. The Karakoram is the most heavily glaciated area of the world (aside from polar regions). The environment is extremely beautiful in its starkness, and is very arid because in most years the seasonal monsoon moving across the Indian subcontinent has dropped most of its mosture by the time its reaches this far. As a result, the inhabitants of this area are very vulnerable to shortfalls of rain, and may become more vulnerable as a result of global climate change. (For more information on the Indian Monsoon, see the excellent discussion provided here by Paul Baumann). In the photo, the thin green line along the right side indicates the location of a hand-dug irrigation canal that brings drinking and irrigation water (in the form of glacial melt) to the valley below. The melt is reputed to contain bits of gold and silver, one locally-offered explanation for the longevity of the "Healthy Hunzas" who inhabit some of these valleys. The larger clump of vegetation at the far right reveals a leak in the irrigation canal. I'm wearing my favorite hat, from Nepal.
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Research -- Working in collaboration with students and colleagues I conduct research on a range of topics related to poverty, economic development, and the environment in developing regions of the world. My research has been funded by the National Science Foundation , USAID , the Ford Foundation , the World Bank and the International Food Policy Research Institute . My current focus is on the use of panel data to study dynamic processes of household labor allocation and land use in environmentally sensitive areas of the humid and semi-humid tropics. I am especially interested in the interactions between poverty and environmental degradation. A few current working papers and forthcoming articles include:
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My current research group includes students pursuing both MS and PhD degrees.
The photo at right shows us at a relaxed moment.
My newest project is Natural Capital and Poverty Reduction, a four-year collaboration among scientists in the US, Malawi, Uganda and Norway to better understand the connections between forest use and household livelihoods in Malawi, Uganda, and elsewhere.
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In 2003-04 I spent a sabbatical year at the Asian Economics Centre, in the Economics Department at the University of Melbourne . Without a doubt, Melbourne is one of the world's finest cities and has one of the best collections of children's playgrounds of any city I have visited. During my sabbatical I completed work on a book, co-edited with Ian Coxhead at University of Wisconsin, entitled "Land Use Change in Tropical Watersheds: Evidence, Causes and Remedies." The book was published by CABI Press in 2005.
I currently serve as an Associate Editor for the journal Environment and Development Economics. I also serve with Will Masters as Co-Editor-in-Chief of Agricultural Economics , the flagship journal of the International Association of Agricultural Economists . I am currently serving as the chairperson of the Technical Committee for the USAID SANREM CRSP project. Click here to visit the homepage of the SANREM project, which focuses on applied research to support sustainable agriculture and natural resource management.
I also currently serve on the Executive Committee of the Purdue Climate Change Research Center, a multidisciplinary group of researchers at Purdue guided by the mission of better understanding the human and physical processes leading to global climate change.
Teaching -- In most years I teach two courses:
Graduate Study -- The graduate program at Purdue offers a wide range of opportunities for students interested in Applied Economics. If you are interested in graduate study at Purdue, please visit the department's graduate program home page. At this time the department has available three fellowships from the US Department of Agriculture for study at the PhD level in the Economics of Alternative Energy. Click here to learn more. Finally, if you are a graduate student considering an academic career grab the pdf version of Strategy and Etiquette for Graduate Students Entering the Academic Job Market .