IDC 2010 - Panel speaker bios

FRI, 4/9, 3:00 - 4:30 PM. Location: TBD

There are trade-offs between the needs of economic development and the objectives of conservation. In many developing countries, policymakers may be faced with (for example) an urge to expand infrastructure, to mine for minerals, to boost timber production, etc - all of which may provide some near-term benefits but lead to long-term destruction of forested areas if done poorly. On the other hand there is a value to protecting certain areas from human activity / exploitation - whether for ecological, economic, aesthetic, ethical or sociological reasons. And perhaps there is a balance between the two - between rampant exploitation and absolute protection - that is, in some sense, sustainable, i.e. can satisfy the needs of the present and future generations.

Biographies

Abhilash Mudaliar is a Master's student in the MPA/ID program at Harvard Kennedy School. Abhilash recently concluded a year-long research project examining trade-offs between biodiversity conservation and economic development, specifically human-tiger conflict in India. Through his research Abhilash gained a detailed understanding of the incentives of various stakeholders with interests in human-wildlife conflict - from forest department bureaucracy to conservation NGOs to tribal rights activists to state and central politicians - and how policy can operate within such an environment.

Hari Ramalu Ragavan studied environmental economics and has been the Programme Manager with the United Nations Development Programmme, Malaysia Country Office for the past 6 years. His role is to help the government of Malaysia to design, implement and monitor projects related to energy and environmental issues. These include climate change mitigation and adaptation, conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity and mainstreaming environmental management. He has 17 years of experience in environmental management and policy. He has worked for NGOs, government and private sectors in various capacities as researchers, consultants and advisor. He spent memorable years to study for his degree, masters and Phd at University Malaya (Malaysia), Lund University (Sweden) and University of Manchester (United Kingdom).

Mr. Paul co-founded EcoLogic in 1993 and currently serves as its executive director. Mr. Paul has extensive experience in rural Latin American economic development, environmental protection, and natural resource management. Prior to launching EcoLogic, he served as a field representative for social service organizations working in Central America. Mr. Paul has also held positions with the United Nations Non-Governmental Organization Liaison Service, the United Nations Development Programme, and the Inter-American Foundation. He has an M.A. in natural resource and development economics from the University of Michigan and a B.A. in international relations from American University. He was designated a Next Generation Leader Fellow by the Rockefeller Foundation in 2001.

Prateep Nayak is a Giorgio Ruffolo Doctoral Fellow in Sustainability Science in the Sustainability Science Program at Harvard's Center for International Development and a PhD candidate at the Natural Resources Institute at the University of Manitoba, Canada. His research interests include understanding society-nature connections using conceptual elements from social-ecological systems, complex commons, environmental justice and political ecology. As a development professional, Prateephas worked for over a decade on issues concerning community-based governance of land, water and forest resources in India, focusing specifically at the interface of research, implementation and public policy.