Department of Geography

Ending Extreme Poverty Without Endangering Ecosystems

Paul Ferraro, PhD, Bloomberg Distinguished Professor, Johns Hopkins University

In the second Teale lecture of the new academic year, Dr. Paul Ferraro will discuss the relationship between poverty alleviation and ecosystem change, and share fascinating results from his unique work.

Poverty and ecosystem degradation are two great global challenges of the 21st century. Recently, scientists have argued that it is possible to protect ecosystems without interfering with, and potentially helping, poverty alleviation goals--but no one has demonstrated a connection between poverty alleviation programs and positive conservation outcomes. Research-based evidence for positive outcomes is important, given the significant amount of philanthropic funding aimed at poverty alleviation. If that investment can also advance conservation, the implication would be globally significant since endangered ecosystems are disproportionately located in regions with high levels of poverty.

Professor Ferraro’s work focuses on behavioral economics and the design and evaluation of environmental programs in the private and public sector, collaborating with scientists and engineers from a variety of social, natural, and physical science disciplines. He uses a combination of naturally occurring data and randomized controlled trials to identify the causal links between environmental policy actions and their effects

Ferraro is a Bloomberg Distinguished Professor with joint appointments in the Department of Environmental Health and Engineering and the Carey Business School. He is known for his research on behavioral economics and the design and estimation of impacts of environmental programs.Ferraro earned BA and MS degrees from Duke University, and completed his PhD at Cornell University with in 2001. Prior to joining Johns Hopkins in 2015, he was a Regents’ Professor in the Economics department at Georgia State University.

Teale 2019-2020: https://cese.uconn.edu/the-edwin-way-teale-lecture-series/

Sponsored by the Office of the President, Office of the Provost, Office of the Vice President for Research, College of Agriculture, Health and Natural Resources, College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, Graduate School, School of Engineering, School of Fine Arts, School of Law, Atmospheric Sciences Group, Center for Environmental Sciences & Engineering, Center of Biological Risk, Connecticut Institute for Resilience and Climate Adaptation, Connecticut State Museum of Natural History, Connecticut Sea Grant Program, Environmental Sciences Program, Environmental Studies Program, Geosciences Program, Human Rights Institute, Humanities Institute, Institute of the Environment, Office of Environmental Policy, and UConn Library, as well as by Departments of Ecology & Evolutionary Biology, Economics, English, Geography, History, Natural Resources & the Environment, Political Science, and Physics.

More info to follow

More info to follow

Screening of "Daughter of Nepal", followed by dialogue between film-maker Surbhi Dewan and Debanuj DasGupta about gender, sexuality and geopolitics in South Asia.

Daughter Of Nepal is the story of Manushi Yami Bhattarai, the unassuming daughter of two formidable political leaders of Nepal. As her parents prepared to go underground for the Peoples' War in the mid-1990's, nine-year-old Manushi was sent across the border to live under an assumed identity. The film catches up with Manushi in 2009, soon after her return to the chaotic political scene of Kathmandu. She is determined to support her parents' political struggle, and begin one of her own. The film takes a poetic look at a rarely seen side of a revolutionary movement.
Director & Producer: Surbhi Dewan
Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eVmToYPqUL8

Surbhi Dewan is a film director, writer & producer. Her films explore intersections and overlaps between political conflict, gender, migration, memory and personhood. She uses creative audio-visual techniques to mould poetic, intimate and engaging narratives. Surbhi is deeply committed to presenting unique perspectives and humanizing ‘the other’ through her work. Her notable independent films include Daughter of Nepal (2018) and A Thin Wall (2015).

Surbhi has also produced award-winning media content for various clients with her New Delhi-based production company, Painted Tree Pictures. She is a member of the International Association of Women in Radio & Television, India chapter. She graduated with an MFA in film from Rochester Institute of Technology, New York, and received her BA degree in Political Science from Lady Shri Ram College, Delhi University.

Breaking the Banks: Representation and Realities in the New England Fisheries, 1866-1966

Adelina and Fabian will each present their research.