Category: graduate students

Society of Women Geographers Awards Swetha Peteru Prestigious Pruitt Fellowship

On By wjepsonIn graduate students, research

Society of Women Geographers has awarded Swetha Peteru, one of my doctoral candidates and Applied Biodiversity Science Associates, the prestigious Pruitt Fellowship for her dissertation research.  Swetha's doctoral research examines how tropical agroforestry regimes create divergent biotic landscapes, looking at both plant species and genetic diversity.  Her cutting-edge work ties human activity to genetic diversity by …

Continue reading Society of Women Geographers Awards Swetha Peteru Prestigious Pruitt Fellowship

The ache of injustice

On By wjepsonIn geography, graduate students, research, Texas A&M University, water security

Observations from Emily Vandewalle, a graduate student who just completed her MS in Geography and now is off to the Philippines to work with a water NGO.

Environmental Justice - Texas

I peered deep into the 50 gallon plastic container at the few inches of water remaining at the bottom. Just moments before, the bucket was full- but after 20 minutes of using this water to pressure wash the inside of the 2500 gal water tank that provides water for the Ramirez* home, my plastic container was practically empty. I began to drag the container to the open field just behind the home to dump out the remaining water in attempt to begin the clean-up process after a day full of manual labor, frantic trips to the hardware store, sunburn, sore muscles, and homemade tamales. Just then, Mara*, the female head of the household, walked outside of her home and it dawned on me – maybe she wants to save this water. Upon asking, she hurriedly brought me a 5 gallon open bucket to pour the remaining water from my container into, to be saved for later use in the home- perhaps to fill…

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