Fall 2026 Harry ’51 and Joshua ’49 Tsujimoto Perspectives in Global Development and the Environment Seminar Series
About the speaker
Dr. Paige West holds The Claire Tow Professorship in Anthropology at Barnard College and Columbia University and is a Guggenheim Fellow. She has worked in Papua New Guinea since 1997 and has conducted over 125 months of field-based research in the country. She has written about the linkages between environmental conservation and international development, the material and symbolic ways in which the natural world is understood by Indigenous peoples and natural scientists, and the production of biodiversity-based commodities. Her current research is focused on sea level rise, managed retreat, and the question of how people forge new lives in the face of climatic change.
Abstract
What happens when conservation begins not with outside experts, technical plans, or predetermined models of governance, but with Indigenous knowledge, authority, and relationships to place? What does meaningful collaboration look like when it unfolds over decades rather than over the life of a grant or development project? And what might development practitioners learn from forms of environmental governance grounded in kinship, customary authority, and obligations to both human and more-than-human worlds?
About the seminar series
The Harry ’51 & Joshua ’49 Tsujimoto Perspectives in Global Development and the Environment Seminar Series showcases innovative approaches to development with experts from around the globe. Each year, the series attracts online registrants from over 45 countries and more than 350 organizations.
Seminars are held Wednesdays from 12:20-1:10 p.m. Eastern time during the semester in 175 Warren Hall. Students, faculty and the general public are welcome to attend in-person or via Zoom. Note: This talk will be held in person only.
The series is co-sponsored by the Sections of Global Development and Natural Resources and the Environment and the Charles H. Dyson School of Applied Economics and Management as part of courses GDEV 4961, AEM 4961, NTRES 4961, GDEV 6960, AEM 6960, and NTRES 6960.
Date & Time
September 9, 2026
12:20 pm - 1:10 pm
Location
More information about this event.
Contact Information
Mariah Doyle-Stephenson
- md2237 [at] cornell.edu
Speaker
Paige West
Departments
Global Development Section
Natural Resources and the Environment Section
Charles H. Dyson School of Applied Economics and Management
Ashley School of Global Development and the Environment
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