Prof. Michael Kremer’s work evaluates approaches to safe water provision: a chlorine dispenser in Kenya 2009-10 Center for International Development faculty, fellows and staff Prof. Nava Ashraf works on incentives in the distribution of public goods: female condom promotion in Zambia Balancing land conservation and local economic development in Thailand, Katharine Sims 2008

Faculty Grants

Land-Water Sustainability Faculty Grant competition:  Dec 21, 2009 deadline

Grants are intended to seed new research and to support projects that contribute to ongoing research that relates to the sustainable use of land and water resources. The next major initiative of the Sustainability Science Program will be the sustainable use of land and water resources in the face of competing demands for food, energy, health, and ecosystem services.  We are particularly interested in the impact of water-related shocks and stresses (e.g., drought, flooding) on food production and food security.  More broadly, we seek to understand the opportunities and limits of agronomic, economic and institutional strategies to adapt to and mitigate the impact of water-related risks.  The scope of this initiative extends from evaluation of the efficacy of traditional strategies for managing water-related risks in subsistence agriculture to a consideration of contemporary options such as weather insurance, the development of drought resistant varieties and land use practices that reduce the covariance of weather and yields, improved prediction technologies to allow adaptation, and irrigation and rainwater harvesting technologies that can be deployed by individual households, small groups of households, or require larger scale cooperation and rely on particular institutions and social norms.  We will also consider interactions between agricultural and non-agricultural water use, including innovative social mechanisms that may control tendencies for both water withdrawal and water pollution to disrupt agricultural systems. Grants are for use for any period between January 2010 and August 2011. Interdisciplinary research approaches are encouraged where appropriate. For more information on the application process, click here. Applications are due December 21, 2009.

Sustainability Science Faculty Grant competition:  Feb 1, 2010 deadline

Grants are intended to seed new research and to support projects that contribute to ongoing research that relates to the core concerns of "sustainability science," an emerging field of use-inspired research seeking to advance understanding of the interactions between human and environmental systems, and to apply such understanding to sustainability challenges relating to advancing human well-being and alleviating poverty in ways that simultaneously conserve the earth's life support systems. Proposals to explore sectoral applications of sustainability science in the areas of agriculture/land use/food, habitation, energy and materials, health and water are welcome, as are applications to integrated regional development. Interdisciplinary research approaches are encouraged where appropriate. A list of faculty research activities that are supported by previous faculty awards can found here. For more information on the application process, click here. Applications are due February 1, 2010.

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