In this episode Michael speaks with Priya Shyamsundar, lead economist at the Nature Conservancy. Priya speaks about her career trajectory that led her to the Nature Conservancy, and about her current position. They discuss the history of economics and social science at the Nature Conservancy and in Conservation more broadly, and Priya describes the increasing appreciation for the role that humans play in conservation that has occurred across many conservation organizations, but also that there remains a dominance of natural sciences simply in terms of how many natural scientists vs. social scientists are employed at the Nature Conservancy.
Michael and Priya also talk about a specific project that Priya has been involved in called the Prana (“breath”) project, dealing with agricultural residue management in rural India. There, the massive burning of residues after harvest each fall has created large-scale smoke and air pollution problems. Priya, along with a previous guest of the podcast, JT Erbaugh, have been working with local partners in India to conduct focus groups and a baseline survey to understand the preferences of local farmers for how best to address this issue. The interview concludes with a discussion of the factors that make it more or less likely for farmers to adopt new farming strategies, and Priya mentions a finding that the most significant factor in affecting whether or not a farmer adopts a new technique is whether people in their social network have adopted it as well. Just like many social behaviors, adoption can be contagious.
References:
Cool green science website that Priya mentions: https://blog.nature.org/science/
Commoning #2: A few of our favorite books
057: Groundwater Governance with Bill Blomquist
Insight #23: Jacopo Baggio on multiple methods
Insight #22: Liz Carlisle on the influence of music
Commoning #1: What makes a good scientist?
Insight #21: Meredith Niles on the importance of open access
056: Hidden harvests and paper cooperatives with Xavier Basurto
Insight #20: Jessica Cockburn on critical realism
Insight #19: Sociology of science with John Parker
055: Making a difference with Frank van Laerhoven
Information on our transition to the In Common Podcast
Insight #18: Joseph Ament on shifting value in the economy towards sustainability
Insight #17: Raul Pacheco-Vega on ethnography and the ethics of care
054: Transboundary actions with Mike Schoon
053: Multiple methods for exploring the commons with Jacopo Baggio
052: Seafood trade accounting, Covid impacts, and resilient food systems with Jessica Gephart
Insight #16: Liana Chua on the risk of interdisciplinarity
051: Conservation modelling with Beatriz Dos Santos Dias.
050: Social impacts of marine conservation with David Gill
049: Sharing podcasting experiences with Coastal Routes Radio
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