Have you ever heard of the Maldive Islands? Well, neither had I, until a few months ago. The Maldive Islands, also known as the Republic of the Maldives, or just plain Maldives, are a group of atolls in the Indian Ocean to the southwest of India. Why are they important? …
At Bard College’s conference on Water, Forests, and Communities in Asia, we welcomed speakers from three Asian countries. Over the span of three days, from January 31 to February 2, each of them presented topics to the audience on an interesting and wide array of topics. …
Yes the title is a Bruce Springsteen reference. In June I arrived in Oaxaca to start my internship at the Instituto de la Naturaleza y la Sociedad de Oaxaca or INSO. Nervous? Yes. Prepared? probably. Spanish language skills? Not quite there, but working on it. During my first day I was taken under the wing …
From July to November 2011, I embarked on my first career building experience. Well when written like that, it sounds so serious. It was serious to some extent. The experience changed me: my world-view, my abilities, and my character. In the next paragraphs, I will explain the nature of my …
To celebrate its 25th Anniversary, Universidad del Itsmo (UDI)—with presence in Panama and Guatemala—held its inaugural “Jornada de Derecho Ambiental” (First Conference in Environmental Law) in Panama City on March 20, 2012. I was invited to address recent developments in international environmental law, particularly the Rio+20 processes, and to discuss …
Reposted from Grist By Eban Goodstein “A cross between paradise and paradise.” This is how Mohamed Nasheed of the Maldives describes his nation in Jon Shenk’s powerful new film, The Island President. Shenk follows President Nasheed over a one-year period, leading up to the Copenhagen climate summit, in a beautiful, courageous, and …
During the second week of my internship I was incredibly lucky to be invited to accompany my supervisor to a World Bank/IAIA conference. The “Innovations in EIA” Conference was a staggering example of putting theory into practice. The purpose was for many different stakeholders to share their experiences, new technology, …
Between scheduling appointments with relevant stakeholders such as local officials and NGOs, independently collecting, processing, and presenting information to my colleagues across the Atlantic, and traveling around a 120 KM region to complete these daily tasks, my internship became quite a handful. To top all of this off, the mission …
Working in Mexico, while at times frustrating, carried with it a sense of fulfillment that I don’t believe I could have obtained working at a similar position within the states. Relating to both language and culture, I was confronted everyday with issues that I had never encountered before. Throughout the …