CLIMAS - School of Geography & Development

Sneha Balakrishnan

ben — Thu, 02 Mar 2017 22:48:48 +0000

Sneha Balakrishnan is a 2017 recipient of the Climate Assessment for the Southwest (CLIMAS) Climate & Society Graduate Fellows Program.

Women at the nexus of agricultural development and climate change adaptation – A study on Collective Farming in Kerala, India

Abstract: Kerala and its rain dependent agricultural systems are highly vulnerable to impacts from increasing temperature, variable precipitation and rising sea levels. At the same time, Kerala’s agriculture has undergone massive transformation in the last couple of decades owing to the adoption of liberalization policies in early 1990s. As agricultural development interventions mostly targeted men, women’s access to essential resources such as land, livestock, credit, machinery, technology and information was gradually reduced. In an effort to reposition women as key actors in agricultural production, Government of Kerala launched the Collective Farming Initiative in 2004. The initiative is centered on networks of landless and smallholder women cultivators forming neighborhood groups that take up farming on lands otherwise left fallow by landowners. However, some critical questions remain unanswered. How are marginal women cultivators affected by impacts of climate change and how are they addressing these additional challenges? Using the case of collective farming among marginal women cultivators in Kerala, the proposed study is aimed at a gendered analysis of vulnerability to understand how development initiatives such as collective farming influence women’s access and control of resources and influence their adaptive capacities to deal with current and future climate risks.

School of Geography & Development

University of Arizona

snehabk@email.arizona.edu

Former Fellows

First Name:

Sneha

Last Name:

Balakrishnan

Titles and Affiliations body:

Fellow, Climate Assessment for the Southwest

Emilie Schur

gigi — Mon, 14 Sep 2015 18:55:14 +0000

School of Geography & Development

schur@email.arizona.edu

Former: Graduate Assistants

First Name:

Emilie

Last Name:

Schur

Emma Lawlor

gigi — Mon, 13 Jan 2014 23:20:04 +0000

School of Geography & Development

ejlawlor@email.arizona.edu

Former: Graduate Assistants

First Name:

Emma

Last Name:

Lawlor

Becky Brice

gigi — Mon, 13 Jan 2014 23:13:09 +0000

Becky Brice is a 2016 recipient of the Climate Assessment for the Southwest (CLIMAS) Climate & Society Graduate Fellows Program.

Title: Paleoclimatic Indicators of Surface Water Resources in the Chuska Mountains, Navajo Nation

Abstract: Long-term records of hydroclimate for the Navajo Nation are acutely limited. Short records can fail to capture the full range of hydroclimatic variability while longer records illuminate more climate information. Without long-term records to document the natural variability of water resources in the Chuska Mountains, anticipating water availability for the Navajo Nation’s most populated and economically productive areas is difficult. Depressions at the crest of the Chuskas collect snowmelt, providing water for Navajo stock animals, wildlife, agriculture and fish. Recent decades are characterized by declining snow water equivalent (SWE) in snowpack of northeastern Arizona. At the same time, tribal members report that surface waters supporting agricultural practices and community resources on the Navajo Nation have begun to go dry from extended drought. This use-based study is a collaborative effort with Navajo Nation Department of Water Resources (NNDWR) to enhance understanding of surface water resources in the Chuska Mountains. First, we will develop a multi-century long tree-ring reconstruction of snowpack in the Chuska Mountains. Second, we will use satellite imagery from the Landsat program and a Modified Normalized Difference Water Index (MNDWI) to generate the first long-term (30-year) record of lake levels in the Chuska Mountains. Periods of cool-season drought during the instrumental period will be compared with satellite-based lake area estimations and historical accounts of Chuska lake levels to examine the relationship between reduced surface waters and snowpack levels. This information reduces uncertainty around variability in the Chuska climate system and is intended to inform NNDWR evaluation of water scarcity implications, assisting with drought planning and decision-making.

School of Geography & Development

University of Arizona

rlbrice@email.arizona.edu

Former Fellows

First Name:

Becky

Last Name:

Brice

Titles and Affiliations body: