Chronology of MTSP Climate Change Research Activities (2019–Present)
The Modern Tibetan Studies Program (MTSP) began to launch programming on climate-related issues and research in November 2019 with an in-person roundtable: "Understanding Climate Change on the Tibetan Plateau," marking our first collaborative event with the Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory (LDEO). As detailed in the timeline below, we have since hosted and co-hosted a number of events featuring researchers from universities and institutes ranging from the Chinese Academy of Sciences to Australia National University, University of British Columbia, Boise State University and Emory University. Above all, our partnerships with LDEO and Indiana University remain strong.
In October 2022, the Weatherhead East Asian Institute (WEAI) received National Resource Center (NRC) funding to co-host with Indiana University a series of four roundtables to bring social science researchers working with Tibetan pastoralist communities in conversation with scientists modeling climate change in the Himalayas and Asia. The first of these roundtables focused on "Indigenous Knowledge Systems and Environmental Management on the Tibetan Plateau," which the two universities co-hosted online on April 21, 2023. The effort has since inspired the formation of a Columbia University-Indiana University Climate Research Initiative.
"Understanding Climate Change on the Tibetan Plateau: Environmental Conservation Research and Climate Science Approaches." MTSP's first collaborative event with the Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory (LDEO), featuring Brendan Buckley (LDEO), Yonten Nyima (Visiting Research Scholar, NYU); Tsering Bum (PhD candidate, Emory University); Chenxi Xiu (Institute of Geology and Geophysics, Chinese Academy of Sciences.
"Climate Variability and Steppe Empires: New Findings and Future Directions." Talk by Nicola di Cosmo (Henry Luce Foundation Professor of East Asian History, Institute for Advanced Study; Associate Member, Weatherhead East Asian Institute, Columbia University). Moderated by Gray Tuttle.
“Understanding Climate Change on the Tibetan Plateau: Climate Data and Community Knowledge” with Brendan Buckley, Boniface Fosu, and Hung Nguyen (LDEO); Huatse Gyal (U Michigan); Kelly Hopping (Boise State University); and Emily Yeh (UC-Boulder); moderated by then MTSP Director Eveline Washul.
"Climate Change, Water, and Livelihoods in High Asia." Anthropologist Jade D'Alpoim Guedes (Scripps Institution of Oceanography) demonstrated how modelling climate-driven limits on agricultural production can shed light on the history of human adaptation on the Eastern Tibetan Plateau; Gongbu Tsering (Southwestern University of Finance and Economics, China) spoke on the promise of rural community cooperatives for herder adaptation to climate change; Xiaohua Gou (Lanzhou University, China) and James Pittock (Australia National University) presented on climate variability in the region and water resource management, respectively. MTSP co-hosted the online event with the LDEO at Columbia University, and the Inner Asian and Uralic National Resource Center at Indiana University.
Nicola Di Cosmo affiliates with Weatherhead East Asian Institute to offer graduate course “GR6948: Climate and Historical Research.” MTSP student Palden Gyal takes the course and pioneers new research materials, feeding into his assistance in developing the course: "Climate History of the Tibetan Plateau."
Gray Tuttle, Hung T. Nguyen (Postdoctoral research scholar and dendrologist, LDEO) and doctoral student Palden Gyal secure Columbia University Climate Humanities Course Development Grant to develop a new course: "Climate History of the Tibetan Plateau.”
Columbia University-Indiana University Climate Research Initiative is launched, after a joint-award by the NRC for a series of four roundtables featuring social science researchers working with Tibetan pastoralist communities in China and climate scientists modeling climate change in the Himalayas and Asia.
Gray Tuttle and Hung T. Nguyen (Postdoctoral research scholar and dendrologist, LDEO) team teach a new course: "Climate History of the Tibetan Plateau.”
MTSP applies with Climate School/Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory for NSF grant for "Hydroclimatic Variability on the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau and the Historical Study of Demographic Patterns."
WEAI announces Tibetan Studies Postdoctoral Fellowship for 2023-2024, seeking scholar focused on climate research and Inner Asia.
"Indigenous Knowledge Systems and Environmental Management on the Tibetan Plateau." Roundtable with Pasang Yangjee Sherpa (Assoc. Prof., U of British Columbia) and Phurwa Gurung (PhD candidate, UC-Boulder) speaking on "Indigenous Environmental Justice in Nepal" and "Indigenous Environmental Governance and the State," respectively, in conversation with Hung T. Nguyen (Postdoctoral research scholar and dendrologist, LDEO). Co-hosted online with Indiana University, and NRC funding.
Dr. Konchok Gelek (WEAI Tibetan Studies Postdoctoral Scholar) arrives to teach courses examining climate change adaptation, environment, ethnography and urbanization among Tibetans in the P.R.C. Funding provided by the National Resource Center, with supplemental funding by the Weatherhead East Asian Institute.
*Starred events can be viewed on the Columbia University Modern Tibetan Studies Program (MTSP) YouTube Playlist