 |
resources forexplore exploreresources for |
I have been working on community carbon sequestration projects as one option for climate change mitigation in two ecologically and culturally different environments: West-African drylands and the tropical forest margin in Panama. More recently, I have also been involved in researching adaptive capacity and adaptation strategies to climate variability and change and other major stressors experienced by small-scale farmers in Senegal and other Sahelian countries. This summer, I will begin working with small-scale miners in Ghana to assess environmental and human health concerns in the artisanal gold mining sector. I believe that such case studies are essential for understanding current livelihood strategies and obstacles among the rural poor. Also, they allow us to better appreciate households' capacities to embrace improved and adaptive resource management and adaptive strategies in their increasingly changing economic, ecological, and social environments.
Ph.D. (2003), Arid Lands Resource Sciences, University of Arizona
Mag.Phil. (1991), Geography and Economics, French, Karl-Franzens Universität, Graz, Austria
E-mail Dr. Petra Tschakert: petra@psu.edu
Office Address:
315 Walker Building
University Park PA 16802
Phone: (814) 863-9399
My research on soil carbon sequestration in the Old Peanut Basin, a semi-arid and densely populated region in west-central Senegal, involved smallholders in subsistence, rain-fed farming systems. Together with three Senegalese researchers (Agatha Thiaw, Djibril Diouf, and AlHassan Cissé), I investigated past and present land use and soil fertility management practices, underlying perceptions and local knowledge bases, and the impact of historical and current policies on changes in land use and management strategies. Only when we felt we had reached a level of trust and understanding among the communities (after eight months of field work!), we decided it was time to tackle the second part of our study. It involved household surveys on family resource endowment and decision-making processes, soil and biomass carbon measurements, for which I trained interested farmers, and a multiple stakeholder assessment on 'best' management options, project design, and monitoring.
In my position as a post-doctoral fellow in the Department of Biology at McGill University, I had the opportunity to expand my knowledge on community-based natural resource management and carbon offset projects, this time working with indigenous (Emberá) smallholders at the tropical forest margin in Panama. Much of the research is similar to the one in Senegal. The new and challenging elements include the conceptualization of an entire landscape approach to carbon sequestration, built upon effective stewardship of a range of natural resources, conflict resolution between resource users, and strong institutional capacity building through collective learning. Although current carbon levels and the potential for improved carbon storage are three to ten times higher than in semi-arid Senegal, the main challenge is to find equitable ways of including all community members into a collective carbon management plan, despite people's heterogeneous access to basic assets (land, labor, and productive capital), institutional networks, and lucrative income sources.
I currently work with partner institutions in Ghana, Mali, Niger, and Burkina Faso to assess carbon stocks at the national level and community-level adaptation to climate change(SEMSOC Project). Recent work with some of the villages and households that have also participated in the early carbon sequestration study in Senegal allows me to further advance our understanding of vulnerability and adaptive capacity to climate variability and change, in addition to other risks and stressors rural livelihoods experience on a regular basis, such as disease, lack of employment, food insecurity, and lacking community infrastructure.
This summer, I will undertake new research focusing on small-scale gold mining in Ghana. More than 200,000 people, of whom 45 percent are women, are currently employed in this sector in the country. Many are exposed to environmental and human health risks from toxic substances, such as mercury, arsenic, and cyanide. With funding from the Africana Research Center and the EMS Wilson Research Initiation Grant, I will study the complex links among mining, poverty, and marginality and, more specifically, assess health hazards and risk mitigation as perceived by the miners themselves. This work will involve participatory methods to map and contextualize the socio-cultural, mental, environmental, and topographical spaces of contamination.
My research is grounded in three theoretical frameworks that have helped me to better understand the relationships between social, economic, and biophysical processes as they relate to resource management, global change, and sustainable development:
Making research valuable and interesting to the people I work with has always been one of my main priorities. There is nothing more dreadful than spending endless weeks in the field without feeling a certain level of enthusiasm among all actors involved. Participatory research methods allow involving local stakeholders from the initial research design to data collection, interpretation, and final recommendations. There is no limit to the range and type of methods used, as long as they address local "literacies", stimulate interest and discussion, and generate the data needed for meaningful analysis. Over the years, I have used change matrices, village and resource flow mapping, Venn diagrams, focus groups, group drawings, agricultural calendars, ranking, piling, and scoring, visual household budgets, participatory GIS, conceptual mapping, vision mapping, and environmental theatre.
In teaching, I hope to stimulate students' interests in the theoretical and empirical issues of development and environment, rural livelihoods, systems dynamics, semi-arid and tropical agriculture and resource management, and mixed methods in a developing context. In addition to interdisciplinary approaches, I certainly have a strong commitment to mentoring. My goal is to train environmentally and socially literate students and professionals who will be able to address pressing environmental issues within a dynamic and holistic sustainable development framework.
Tschakert, Petra, Elisabeth Huber-Sannwald, Dennis Ojima, Michael Raupach and Erich Schienke. 2008. Holistic, Adaptive Management of the Terrestrial Carbon Cycle at Local and Regional Scales. Global Environmental Change (in press).
Tschakert, Petra and Kamini Singha. 2007. Contaminated Identities: Mercury and Marginalization in Ghana’s Artisanal Mining Sector. Geoforum, 38 (6): 1304-1321.
Tschakert, Petra. 2007. Views from the vulnerable: Understanding climatic and other stressors in the Sahel. Global Environmental Change, 17: 381-396.
Potvin, Catherine, Petra Tschakert, Frédéric Lebel, Kate Kirby, Hector Barrios, Judith Bocariza, Jaime Caisamo, Leonel Caisama, Charianito Cansari, Juan Casamá, Maribel Casamá, Laura Chamorra, Nesar Dumasa, Shira Goldenberg, Villalaz Guainora, Patrick Hayes, Tim Moore and Johana Ruíz (2007). A participatory approach to the establishment of a baseline scenario for a reforestation CDM project. Mitigation and Adaptation Strategies for Global Change, 12 (8): 1341-1362.
Tschakert, Petra. 2007. Environmental services and poverty reduction: Options for smallholders in the Sahel. Agricultural Systems, 94 (1): 75-86.
Tschakert, Petra; Oliver Coomes and Catherine Potvin. 2007. Shifting cultivation, carbon stocks, and indigenous livelihood options in Eastern Panama. Ecological Economics, 60 (4): 807-820.
Tschakert, Petra and Lennart Olsson. 2005. EU climate action in the broad framework of sustainable development. Climate Policy, Special Issue "Climate Policy Options Post 2012", 5: 329-348.
Tschakert, Petra. 2004. Carbon for farmers: Assessing the potential for carbon sequestration in the Old Peanut Basin of Senegal. Climatic Change, Special Issue: Quantifying Terrestrial Carbon Sinks, 67 (2-3), December (1, II): 273-290.
Tschakert, Petra. 2004. The costs of soil carbon sequestration: An economic analysis for small-scale farming systems in Senegal. Agricultural Systems, Vol. 81, no.3, pp 227-253.
Tschakert, Petra, Mamadou Khouma and Modou Sène. 2004. Biophysical potential for soil carbon sequestration in agricultural systems of the Old Peanut Basin of Senegal. Journal of Arid Environments, Special Issue on the SOCSOM Project in Senegal, 59: 511-533.
Tschakert, Petra and Gray Tappan. 2004. The social context of carbon sequestration: Considerations from a multi-scale environmental history of the Old Peanut Basin of Senegal. Journal of Arid Environments, Special Issue on the SOCSOM Project in Senegal, 59: 535-564.
William, Parton, Gray Tappan, Dennis Ojima and Petra Tschakert. 2004. Ecological impact of historical and future land-use patterns in Senegal. Journal of Arid Environments, Special Issue on the SOCSOM Project in Senegal, 59: 605-623.
Tschakert, Petra. 2005. More food, less poverty? The potential role of carbon sequestration in smallholder farming systems in Senegal. In "Climate change and global food security", edited by R. Lal, N. Uphoff, B.A. Stewart and D.O. Hansen, Taylor & Francis, London, pp 538-568.
FAO. 2004. Carbon sequestration in dryland soils. With contributions from P. Farage, J. Pretty, A. Ball, L. Olsson, P. Tschakert, and A. Warren. World Soil Resources Reports 102, FAO, Rome.
Tschakert, Petra. 2001. Human dimensions of carbon sequestration: A political ecology approach to soil fertility management and desertification control in the Old Peanut Basin of Senegal. Arid Lands Newsletter. 49 (May-June).
Tschakert, Petra and Djibril Diouf. 2004. Carbon Sequestration and Rural Livelihoods: A Pilot Study from Senegal. Land Management for Carbon Sequestration in West Africa, Regional Scientific Conference, Bamako, Mali, February 26-27, 2004. Proceedings. Watkinsville, GA, May 2004.
Tschakert, Petra. 2000. Sequestration of carbon in soil organic matter in Africa. A prototype pilot project in Senegal: Selection of potential study areas. Carbon Sequestration in Soils, International Workshop, Dakar, Senegal, September 25-27, 2000. Proceedings. Dakar, February 2001.
Woomer, Paul L., Larry L. Tieszen, Petra Tschakert, William J. Parton and Assize Touré. 2001. Landscape carbon sampling and biogeochemical modeling. A two-week skills development workshop conducted in Senegal. USGS/SACRED Africa/CSE. Nairobi: SACRED Africa.
Tschakert, Petra. 2003. Soil carbon sequestration in small-scale farming systems: A case study from the Old Peanut Basin in Senegal. Ph.D. dissertation. University of Arizona, Tucson, Arizona.
"Contaminated Identities: Understanding human and environmental risks and livelihood options among small-scale gold miners in Ghana". In Collaboration with Raymond Tutu, Jones Adjei, Doris Ottie-Bakye, and Jessica Lehman. First International Conference on Environmental Research, Technology and Policy. Accra, Ghana, July 16-19, 2007.
"Do we recognize a climatic shift when we see one?: Lessons from the Western Sahel" (poster presentation). IPCC TGICA Meeting on Integrating Analysis of Regional Climate Change and Response Options, Nadi, Fiji, June 20-22, 2007.
"Staging Smart Farmers: Learning Partnerships in Global Change Science". 103rd Annual Meeting of the Association of American Geographers, San Francisco, California, April 17-21, 2007.
"Contaminated Identities in Ghana’s Small-Scale Mining Sector". Penn State University, ARC and AESEDA Spring 2007 Brown Bag Series. April 4, 2007.
"Contamination and Marginalization in the Small-Scale Gold Mining Sector". Penn State University, AESEDA Forum, in collaboration with Dr. K. Singha (Geosciences). January 24, 2007.
"Research at the Regional Institute for Population Studies (RIPS), University of Ghana: Spaces for Participation and Transformation". Penn State University, Population Research Institute (PRI). Seminar Series, October 31, 2006.
"Voices of the Vulnerable: Eutopian Thoughts on Climate Change and Rural Livelihoods in Senegal". Penn State University. Interinstitutional Consortium for Indigenous Knowledge (ICIK), October 25, 2006.
"Rural Livelihoods in Marginal Environments: Vulnerability and Adaptive Capacity. Seminar, University of Ghana, Regional Institute for Population Studies (RIPS), Legon, Ghana. July 31, 2006.
"The Day After Tomorrow: Perceptions of Climate Change and Other Risks in the Sahel". Penn State University, Department of Geography Coffee Hour, March 17, 2006.
"Wetter or drier? Climate change perceptions, risk, and vulnerabilities in the Sahel". 102nd Annual Meeting of the Association of American Geographers, Chicago, Illinois, March 7-11, 2006.
"Clean Development Mechanism and equity: A southern perspective". Scientific Debate Series on the Millennium Development Goals. University of Antwerp, Belgium, November 28, 2005.
"Detection, drivers, and dynamics of LULCC in the Sahel: Linking scientists with local decision-makers. International Global Change Research Conference", IHDP, Bonn, Germany, October 9-13, 2005.
"Integrated, Pro-Poor Ecosystem Service Provision in Dryland Africa": National Capacity Building and Project Implementation in Land Cover Assessment, Carbon Sequestration, and Adaptation to Climate Change" (with Larry Tieszen, EDC/USGS), CRIC-3/UNCCD, Bonn, Germany, May 2-11, 2005.
"Environmental services, poverty, and carbon dollars: Lessons from Senegal", 101st Annual Meeting of the Association of American Geographers, Denver, Colorado, April 5-9, 2005.
"Cash for carbon is not enough: Pro-poor ecosystem services". Laboratory of Forest Ecology, Department of Forest Science and Environment, University of Tuscia, Viterbo, Italy, February 1st, 2005.
"Integrated, pro-poor ecosystem service provision in Africa" (with Larry Tieszen, EDC/USGS), IFAD/Global Mechanism, Rome, Italy, January 31, 2005.
"SEMSOC - Spatially Explicit Modelling of Carbon", workshops held in collaboration with Amadou Moctar Dieye (Centre de Suivi Ecologique, Dakar, Senegal) in Accra, Ghana, January 12-13; Bamako, Mali, January 18-19; Niamey, Niger, January 23-24; and Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso, January 26-27, 2005.
"Coupling carbon sequestration and sustainable development", International Workshop "Regional Carbon Budgets: From Methodologies to Quantification", Beijing, China, November 15-18, 2004.
"EU climate action in the broad framework of sustainable development policies" (with Lennart Olsson), EFIEA Workshop "Towards a long-term European strategy on climate change policy", Norwich, England, November 1-2, 2004.
"Carbon stocks and dynamics in slash-and-burn farming: Land use and management options for indigenous smallholders in Panama", LUCC Carbon Workshop, Copenhagen, August 23-25, 2004.
"Les aspects socio-économiques de la séquestration de carbone". SOCSAB-WA Training Workshop, AGRHYMET Regional Center, Niamey, Niger, July 20-30, 2004.
"Implementación del FCCC en Panamá: Captura del carbono en la Tierra Colectiva de Ipetí-Emberá". Autoridad Nacional del Ambiente (ANAM), Open Day Carbon Offsets, Panama City, January 21, 2004.
"Land use, livelihoods, and the prospect of carbon dollars: A community pilot project with the Emberá of Ipetí, Panama" (poster presentation with Catherine Potvin), Integrated Research on Coupled Human Environmental Systems - LAND Open Science Conference, Morelia, Mexico, December 1-5, 2003.
"When farmers sequester carbon: The role of social networks and institutions", 2003 Open Meeting of the Human Dimensions of Global Environmental Change, Montreal, Canada, October 16-18, 2003.
"Capturing cash through carbon? Prospects for carbon sequestration in small-scale farming systems in Senegal", Mini-Symposium "The Potential of Carbon Sequestration through Land Use Change to Contribute to Poverty Alleviation: Comparative Micro-Economic Evidence", 25th International Conference of Agricultural Economics of the International Agricultural Economics Association (IAAE), Durban, South Africa, August 17-22, 2003.
"Decreasing the poverty gap: Carbon sequestration and rural livelihoods in Senegal". Climate Change, Carbon Dynamics and Global Food Security, International conference, Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio, June 10-11, 2003.
"Implementación del FCCC en zonas áridas: Captura del carbono en el suelo en sistemas agrícolas en Senegal". Open Day Seminal at the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, Panama City, Panama "Convenio sobre cambios climáticos: ¿Una oportunidad de desarrollo para Panamá?", April 30, 2003.
"Analyse coûts-bénéfices et utilisation du modèle STELLA pour evaluer les facteurs socio-économiques de la séquestration du carbone dans les sols au Sahel". SOCSOM au Sahel, FAO training component as part of "The Dakar Workshop", Saly, Senegal, March 14, 2005.
"Biophysical potential for carbon sequestration in the Old Peanut Basin of Senegal", "Environmental histories and carbon visions: A multi-scale assessment in the Old Peanut Basin", and "Cost-benefit analysis and socio-economic modeling (STELLA) of carbon sequestration practices in the Old Peanut Basin". Carbon Sequestration, Land Cover Monitoring and Desertification in the Sahel - "The Dakar Workshop", Saly, Senegal, March 11-15, 2003.
"Cattle, crops and carbon: Local soil fertility management and carbon sequestration in Senegal". 99th Annual Meeting of the Association of American Geographers, New Orleans, Louisiana, March 5-8, 2003.
"Linking global climate change to local soil fertility management: A carbon sequestration pilot project in Senegal". Quantifying Terrestrial Carbon Sinks: Science, Technology and Policy. Wengen International Workshop, Wengen, Switzerland, September 25-27, 2002.
"Carbon sequestration, land degradation and rural livelihoods in Senegal: The SOCSOM Project". World Summit on Sustainable Development, Johannesburg, South Africa, August 24 - September 4, 2002.
"Carbon sequestration, land degradation and rural livelihoods in Senegal: The SOCSOM Project" (poster presentation), ESRI International User Conference, San Diego, California, July 8-12, 2002.
"Update on carbon sequestration and land degradation in Senegal: the SOCSOM project". Geographic Information for Sustainable Development in Africa/GISD Meeting, Bamako, Mali, March 13-15, 2002.
"SOCSOM: A prototype pilot project in Senegal: Selection of potential study areas". Carbon sequestration in soils. International Conference, Dakar, Senegal, September 25-27, 2000.