Whose Right is Right? Searching for a Common "Right" for Promoting Trust and Water-Related Data Exchange in Central Asia
Recognizing that a lack of trust is a common barrier to cooperation in transboundary water management, graduate Botagoz Sharipova examines the role that epistemic and global water virtues play in promoting trust and facilitating data exchange between states. Using Central Asia as a case study, Bota demonstrates that because of national interests, biased knowledge and competition for funding in newly-independent states, in some cases epistemic communities and global virtues fail to build common understanding of what is “right” and bring trust.
How can the Assessment of the Effectiveness of RBOs Affect Their Institutional Arrangement?
Graduate Nataliya Chemayeva, who completed the program in 2019, assesses how the effectiveness of RBOs can affect their institutional arrangements. Using the International Fund for Saving the Aral Sea (IFAS) as a case study, she demonstrates that through an expansion of their institutional structures, institutions might become a substantial burden to efforts towards regional cooperation and in their turn affect or trigger certain regional processes.
Overcoming the Hypolimnion: Stakeholder Influence in Transboundary Water Quality Governance
Master's Graduate Alyssa Offutt assesses the role of local stakeholders in shaping state interactions over transboundary lakes. With a focus on water quality, her research informs patterns of water conflict and cooperation and the interactions of scale in Lake Titicaca, Lake Victoria, and Lake Constance.
Exploring Educational Tools to Improve Transboundary Groundwater Management
In fulfillment of her master's degree, Skye Steriz contributed to UNESCO’s Governance of Groundwater Resources in Transboundary Aquifers (GGRETA) Project by assessing educational tools that may improve the hydro-diplomacy skills, bilateral relations, and technical groundwater knowledge shared between Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan.
Indigenous Approaches to Water Conflict Management: the Anuak and their Approaches to Water Conflict Management
Master's Graduate Tsion Woge investigates the water conflict management approaches of the Anuak indigenous people in Gambella, Ethiopia, and how these could be applied to conflict arising from the expansion of large-scale agricultural investment.
Globalization of Water Resources: Examining Social Learning Using Serious Gaming
This research, by Master's Graduate Fatima Taha, examines the Water Footprint Computer Assisted Board Game and explore its use as a tool for enhancing social learning of water resources issues surrounding commodities trade.
What Lies Below: Options to Improve Sustainable Management of U.S./Mexico Transboundary Aquifers
Recognizing the limited governance of international groundwaters, Master's Graduate Christina Welch assesses the United States and Mexico’s institutional capacity to manage groundwater across the local, state, national, and international scales. She focuses on the Paseo del Norte region and the three transboundary aquifers shared by the two countries and three federal states (New Mexico, U.S.; Texas, U.S.; and Chihuahua, MX).