Seeking a research assistant for research on community responses to climate change

Research assistant will be asked to examine documents from a mountain region in the Alps affected by climate change. The research assistant would catalogue the documents, summarize each one, indicate the presence of key terms, and provide an overview. German language fluency is a basic requisite, along with some familiarity with social science or history. Knowledge of climate policy an additional strength.

This case is one of three different mountain regions affected by glacier retreat (a significant impact of climate change), in the South Trol in Italy, the Peruvian Andes, and the North Cascades in Washington State. These are all small valleys or communities. Stated briefly, the communities are undertaking activities that look like climate change adaptation, but they do not engage very much with global frameworks of climate change. This research contributes to an understanding of cultural frameworks through which the communities understand themselves and form their responses to the challenges and opportunities which they see.

The research assistant work would be for the South Tyrol case, a German-speaking region in northern Italy. I would like someone to go through the online records of the local town council, and also to read the local news magazines from that section of the province. There are a few local organizations whose records I would also like to examine--a hydroelectric plant, the mountain rescue service, and an association of people who collect WW I military objects as they are released by melting glaciers. I would provide direction to the specific archives, and indicate what kind of summaries I would like. I would meet weekly with the RA.

The work would start in September, and would be paid commensurate with experience and skill. 10 hrs/wk. Interested students should email me directly at bso5@columbia.edu. 

Ben Orlove
bso5@columbia.edu
SIPA and the Climate School