Flying the coop and returning to roost - Fall at CSIS
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The migration patterns of CSIS graduate students and visiting scholars are shifting to autumnal academic mode, with some indigent species departing for new habitats, and new individuals building nests.
In descending order of seniority (roughly):
Wei Liu successfully defended his dissertation “Patterns and Impacts of Tourism Development in a Coupled Human and Natural System” Aug. 16, and promptly cleared out his desk and left for the International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis (IIASA) in Laxenburg, Austria, a suburb of Vienna. He is one of the two 2012 IIASA Postdoctoral Fellows on a two-year appointment.
IIASA conducts interdisciplinary scientific studies on environmental, economic, technological and social issues in the context of human dimensions of global change. IIASA’s mission is "to provide insights and guidance to policymakers worldwide by finding solutions to global and universal problems through applied systems analysis in order to improve human and social wellbeing and to protect the environment.”
Wei will be affiliated with both the Risk, Vulnerability, and Policy Program and the Ecosystem Services and Management Program. His proposed research project is "The long-term interplay of vulnerability to natural hazards and ecosystem services provision in a coupled human and natural system.”
Chiara Zuccarino-Crowe, who successfully completed her master’s degree in 2011, has taken leave of CSIS to engage in some academic and career exploration. At writing time, she’s in the East Lansing area and there likely will be more Chiara sightings locally.
Kiira Siitari successfully defended her master’s thesis “A Landscape Perspective on the Distribution and Harvest of North American River Otters in Michigan in Relation to Prey Availability” in July. She now is working in the field for the U.S. Geological Survey based in Corvallis, Ore.
Kelsey Schlee, who joined CSIS in her final undergraduate semester last year, returns this fall as a master’s student working with Bill Taylor.
Marissa Hammond joins CSIS as a master’s student studying under Bill Taylor. Marissa received a bachelor’s degree in environmental science and marine biology from the University of New England in Maine. You can learn more about Marissa here.
Jindong Zhang will be joining CSIS as a visiting scholar. Jindong has been a long-time colleague of Vanessa Hull in the Wolong Nature Reserve and is expected to arrive here in mid-September to continue working with her on research projects. Jindong received his PhD from State Key Lab of Urban and Regional Ecology, Research Center for Eco-Environmental Sciences in Beijing.
Plans are that he will be here until early February, then return to Wolong for a four-month data-gathering expedition in April.
