Dr. Karim-Aly Kassam and collaborators have received grant funding through the Belmont Forum, a group of the world’s major and emerging funders of global environmental change research. Learn more.
Dr. Kassam states the grant will “contribute to the anticipatory capacity of Pamiri communities by revitalizing calendars. Using participatory research, we will recalibrate historical and existing ecological calendars by integrating indigenous knowledge with scientific analyses of climate and phenological data. The project will provide a proof-of-concept to be applied in mountain societies across the globe, culminating in an international conference on ecological calendars for building community resilience to climate change. The conference will include social and biophysical scientists, policy makers, and civil society leaders in respectful engagement with indigenous mountain communities.”
In conjunction with the grant, Dr. Kassam is seeking candidates for M.S. assistantships focused on ecological calendars in the region. M.S. students will conduct participatory action research in mountain communities of Afghanistan, China, Kyrgyzstan, and Tajikistan, and have the opportunity to work closely with local communities and collaborate with a transdisciplinary team of scholars from China, Germany, and Italy.
Applications are accepted until mid-April. More information on this opportunity is available here.
