Climate, Resilience and Mobility Symposium

September 19-20, 2024

Climate, Resilience and Mobility Symposium

Floods, droughts, storms, sea-level rise, changing rainfall and rising temperatures intensify the fragility and vulnerability of communities, particularly in the developing world. Some will adapt by migrating. Others may become trapped, lacking the resources to move.

Communities can adapt to climate threats while remaining in place if they have opportunities to build resilience. However, the United Nations (UN) estimates that more than $200 billion is needed annually to support developing countries’ adaptation to climate change. Current global aid covers less than one-tenth of that sum.

Keynote Speaker

The symposium opened on Thursday, September 19, with a keynote address by Indermit Gill and a panel focused on building resilience to climate change and the likely effects of these efforts on human mobility. The expert panelists also discussed the potential for collaboration between NGOs, IGOs, government agencies, think tanks and academic researchers to enhance the knowledge frontier and improve policy response on these issues.

Panelists

Laurie Ashley is a Climate Adaptation and Resilience Advisor in USAID’s Center for Resilience. She facilitates resilience and adaptation outcomes in agriculture, food security, migration, land tenure, sustainable land management, and governance, policy, and planning. Laurie has worked collaboratively to address climate risks and adaptation solutions in complex social-ecological contexts for over 20 years.

Additional Resources:

Nicole Franz is a development economist with 18 years of experience in intergovernmental organizations. She holds a Master in International Cooperation and Project Design from University La Sapienza, Rome and a Master in Economic and Cultural Cooperation and Human Rights in the Mediterranean Region. From 2003 to 2008 she was a consultant for the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD). In 2009-10 she was Fishery Planning Analyst at the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) in Paris, focusing on fisheries certification. Since 2011 she works for the FAO Fisheries and Aquaculture Division where she coordinates the implementation of the Voluntary Guidelines for Securing Sustainable Small-Scale Fisheries in the Context of Food Security and Poverty Eradication (SSF Guidelines) with a focus on inclusive policy processes and stakeholder empowerment. Since 2021 she leads the Equitable Livelihoods team.

Additional Resources:

Christian Lara is an international relations specialist with over 17 years of experience with the United Nations, focusing on political and humanitarian affairs. His work includes implementing the Ottawa Treaty, coordinating the global Ebola response in West Africa, and supporting peace agreements in Colombia and South Sudan. After completing a mid-career fellowship at Duke University, Chris became a Senior Policy Advisor with the Duke Global Health Institute, where he emphasized the science-policy nexus and the role of research institutions in achieving the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. His UN experience includes roles at UN Headquarters and in the field with UN-OCHA, UN-DPKO, WHO, and UNMISS, focusing on emergency coordination and early recovery efforts. Currently, he is a Senior Coordination and Strategic Planning Officer with the UN Resident Coordinators system and most recently served as Head of the Resident Coordination Office in Syria.

Additional Resources:

Marie McAuliffe is the head of the Migration Research & Publications Division at IOM headquarters in Geneva and Editor of IOM’s flagship World Migration Report. She is an international migration specialist with over 25 years of experience in migration as a practitioner, program manager, senior government official and researcher. Marie has researched, published and edited widely in academic and policy spheres on migration and is on the editorial boards of scientific journals International Migration, Migration Studies and Migration and Development, and is an Associate Editor of the Harvard Data Science Review. Marie is a Senior Associate (non-resident) at the Centre for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) in Washington DC, senior fellow at the Global Migration Centre at the Graduate Institute in Geneva and a Sir Roland Wilson Fellow at the School of Demography at the Australian National University (ANU). She is a member of MIT’s Global Technology Review Panel, IUSSP’s panel on international migration and curates the World Economic Forum’s Migration Transformation Map.

Marie-Soleil Turmel is the Scientific Advisor for the Catholic Relief Services Water Smart Agriculture Platform in the Latin America and Caribbean Region. She is an Agronomist/Soil Scientist with 15 years of experience conducting research and extension to promote soil health, productivity, and climate resilience of smallholder farming systems in Latin America. Before joining CRS, she worked as a Research Scientist for the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) and Bioversity International. Marie holds a Ph.D. in Soil Science from McGill University and an M.Sc. in Agronomy from the University of Manitoba.

Additional Resources:

Workshop Sessions

The symposium continued on Friday, September 20, with three lightning talk sessions focused on cutting-edge projects and research on climate, resilience and mobility.

Session 1

Laurie Ashley – Climate Adaptation and Resilience Advisor, Center for Resilience, USAID Bureau for Resilience, Environment and Food Security

Presentation: Climate & Migration at USAID

Nicole Franz – Equitable Livelihoods Team Leader, Fisheries and Aquaculture Division, Food and Agriculture Organization of the UN

Christian Lara – Strategic Planning Officer and Head of Resident Coordinator Office, United Nations

Marie McAuliffe – Head, Migration Research and Publications Division, International Organization for Migration

Marie-Soleil Turmel – Science Advisor, Latin America and Caribbean Region, Catholic Relief Services

Ganesh Krishnan – Senior Principal Water Resources Engineer, Geosyntec Consultants, Inc.

Presentation: Geosyntec Work and Research

Session 2

Kyle Bradbury – Assistant Research Professor, Pratt School of Engineering and Nicholas School of the Environment

Shelley Liu – Assistant Professor, Sanford School of Public Policy

Presentation: Climate and Mobility

Shineng Hu – Assistant Professor of Climate Science, Nicholas School of the Environment

Eddy Malesky – Professor, Department of Political Science

Paper: Economic Risk Perceptions & Willingness to Learn

Erika Weinthal – John O. Blackburn Distinguished Professor, Nicholas School of the Environment

Brian McAdoo – Associate Professor of Geosciences, Nicholas School of the Environment

Alex Pfaff – Professor of Public Policy, Economics and Environment, Sanford School of Public Policy

Kerilyn Schewel – Lecturing Fellow, Sanford School of Public Policy

Dana Pasquale – Assistant Professor, Department of Population Health Sciences, Duke School of Medicine

Session 3

Hannah Postel – Assistant Professor, Sanford School of Public Policy

David Gill – Assistant Professor in the Division of Marine Science and Conservation, Nicholas School of the Environment

Mara Revkin – Associate Professor of Law, School of Law

John Virdin – Assistant Professor of the Practice, Marine Science and Conservation Division, Nicholas School of the Environment

Norbert Wilson – Professor of Food, Economics and Community, Divinity School

Robyn Meeks – Mark and Lynne Florian Assistant Professor, Sanford School of Public Policy

Sarah Bermeo – Associate Professor, Sanford School of Public Policy

Marc Jeuland – Professor, Sanford School of Public Policy

Duke Climate Collaboration Symposia

The Duke Climate Collaboration Symposia are on-campus convenings designed to accelerate climate solutions by developing new collaborations among Duke scholars and external partners. Each symposium focuses on identifying opportunities for Duke University to make the most of its interdisciplinary expertise and convening power for meaningful impact on climate challenges.