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"Conservation Coalitions of the Future: From Landscape Approaches to a Pro-Indigenous Environmental State" presented by Ashwin Ravikumar
The Faculty Colloquium Series for 2019-20 presents a lecture titled "Conservation Coalitions of the Future: From Landscape Approaches to a Pro-Indigenous Environmental State" presented by Ashwin Ravikumar, assistant professor of environmental science.
https://www.amherst.edu/mm/33214
"In this talk I will present new evidence concerning how ‘quality of life plans,’ tools designed to
improve indigenous people’s well-being while supporting conservation in and around
communities, have delivered on their promises in the Peruvian Amazon. In order to assess this,
I worked with a small team to carry out focus groups and semi-structured interviews with
community members, NGO professionals, and government actors working in the Ampiyacu Apayacu watershed and adjacent protected area in the Peruvian Amazon region of Loreto. Our
results show that while community members view quality-of-life plans in a largely positive light,
they do not generally use them to assert their priorities to outside actors, and see them as
conflated with other conservation and sustainable land use initiatives. I present three major
barriers for communities in using quality-of-life plans in the manner that they were intended.
Despite these issues, community members expressed that after going through the process of
creating quality-of-life plans and other activities related to managing their regional conservation
area, they no longer allow private loggers, miners, fishers, and hunters to enter their territory,
and no longer deal with them commercially. With the available evidence, though, we cannot
causally link quality-of-life plans to these changes.
Taking this analysis a step further, I ask whether quality-of-life plans can serve communities in
leveraging funds from large external conservation programs. Specifically, I examine how the
Peruvian National Forest Conservation Program’s conditional cash transfer initiative has worked
to improve people’s well-being as defined in their quality-of-life plans. I find that the Program
has not supported priorities that were found in quality-of-life plans, and has instead generated
concerning dynamics that may undermine the effectiveness of conservation. I argue that the
Program’s current approach is in fact disrupting the local subsistence economy that ultimately
favors conservation, compromising the long-standing culture of reciprocal labor and noncommodified production systems. It therefore risks undermining the existing tools of political
organizing including quality-of-life Plans. Despite these issues, I suggest some ways forward for
the Program, and argue that State initiatives may still be able to alleviate some of the barriers to
community empowerment through quality-of-life plans."
Faculty Colloquium events are sponsored by a group of faculty colleagues who meet informally with the purpose of supporting and promoting the College’s commitment to faculty research. Colleagues interested in joining this endeavor are welcome and should contact us by email: adsarat@amherst.edu . Faculty, staff, and members of the administration are cordially invited to attend these presentations.
If you are interested in having more opportunities to speak Chinese, then join us twice a week for lunch! The Chinese Language Table is open to students, faculty and staff who would like to have conversations in Chinese. All levels are welcome.
If you are interested in having more opportunities to speak Japanese, join us on Fridays for lunch! The Japanese language table meets once a week with Doshisha University student Tomajin Morikawa ’21. The Japanese Language Table is open to students, faculty and staff who would like to have conversations in Japanese. All are welcome to attend, and you can come and go as it fits your schedule. We hope to see you there!
It's beginning to look a lot like a Holiday Craft Fair! Over twenty members of the Amherst College community will be showing their artisan crafts just in time for the gift giving season. Come warm up with a cup of hot chocolate and goodies while you browse one-of-a-kind art made by Amherst staff and associates. This event is hosted by the Employee Council.
Release is an open forum for Amherst community members to talk about race, ethnicity, cultural identity, and current events impacting us at Amherst and beyond. Conversations center the experiences and voices of people of color.
Join the QRC and out counselors Dr. Darien McFadden and Dr. Sarah Erickson from the Counseling Center for a weekly discussion on topics related to being queer/trans at Amherst. There will be snacks!
Abstract: Secondary organic aerosol, or SOA, forms in the atmosphere through the oxidation of volatile biogenic compounds. The majority of the oxidation mechanisms involve small molecules, such as ozone, in the initial stages of the chemistry. Our group studies the formation of SOA through photochemical mechanisms, where electronically excited molecules play the role of the oxidizing agent. We use a laser-based, ambient pressure photoelectric charging method to monitor the decay of aerosol phase triplet photosensitizer molecules. The results bridge the gap between aerosol phase measurements, which are normally steady-state, and bulk-phase, transient absorption measurements. They also demonstrate how the morphology of particle phase systems can control the chemistry.
Guest artist Jumatatu Poe joins the Department of Theater and Dance to present BIG BODY: Experimental J-Sette Performance Workshop.
J-Sette, also known as Bucking, is a performance style popular in the Southern United States, practiced widely among majorettes and drill teams at historically Black colleges and universities, and also among teams of primarily queer men who compete at gay clubs and pride festivals. The workshop focuses on bombastic performance energy, complex relationships to rhythm and music, movement precision, group dynamics, and discovering joy in flesh and community. Participants will explore how the performance of J-Sette creates expectations around attention and accountability to a community, and how it positions leadership.
Jumatatu Poe is a choreographer and performer based between Philadelphia and NYC. He produces dance and performance work with idiosynCrazy productions, a company he founded in 2008 and now co-directs with Shannon Murphy.
All bodies are encouraged to participate, regardless of previous training or ability.
Come write small notes of encouragement in different languages to loved ones on/off campus! Learn & teach short phrases in languages such as Korean, Chinese, Spanish, French, Japanese and more! Presented by Confluences: Lost & Found in Translation, multilingual magazine and Random Acts of Kindness. Boba and snacks will be provided.
Come fight the cold by making some homemade lip balm using natural ingredients and friendship! Mostly natural ingredients honestly, but there will also be awesome people and Insomnia cookies so come on by and have some fun!
Music by Jeff Tyzik, Todd Marcus, Oliver Lake, Johnny Hodges, Antonio Carlos Jobim, David Springfield and others. Free admission. Collecting cash for Amherst Survival Center.
Come join French House residents and French Language Assistants, Réjane and Jiji, in the French House Common Room (second floor, King Hall) for a chill evening with snacks and board games. Come make new friends; all are welcome!
World AIDS Day takes place on 1 December each year. It’s an opportunity for people worldwide to unite in the fight against HIV, to show support for people living with HIV, and to commemorate those who have died from an AIDS-related illness. Founded in 1988, World AIDS Day was the first ever global health day.
Join the RCT, Health Education, the Mead Art Museum, Archives & Special Collections, and the Stonewall Committee in a number of events and installations marking and reflecting on the HIV/AIDS epidemic, its legacies and present-day realities.
Make sure to swing by the World AIDS Day Reception featuring Dr. Jallicia Jolly, Thursday 12/05 in the Keefe Campus Center Atrium from 4:00pm - 5:00pm. Join us in community as we acknowledge and name the continued impact of the HIV/AIDS epidemic. Light refreshments will be served.
WEAR RED THURSDAY!
Please wear Red on Thursday in further build awareness about the HIV/AIDS epidemic and all those who it touches. For more information about why and how red, and specifically the red ribbon, became associated with HIV/AIDS, visit www.worldaidsday.org/the-red-ribbon !
Come learn why everyone deserves a healthy relationship with the Peer Advocates. Find us tabling in Val and Keefe this week.