I was educated as an economist in China Agricultural University from 2004-2008, obtained a Masters education in Sustainable Forest and Nature Management from University of Copenhagen and University of Gottingen from 2008 – 2010, and recently graduated with a Ph.D. Degree from University of Copenhagen. For the past three years I have been working on adaptation to climate change of mountain people in rural areas of southwest China. One main tenet of this project is to provide well-targeted policy measures that help facilitate adaptation and capacity building of local communities, who are increasingly confronted with environmental and socio-economic changes. I have adopted a bottom-up procedure to collect empirical evidence of adaptation, which involves face-to-face household interviews, focus groups and questionnaire survey. The data were further analyzed using both qualitative and quantitative approaches to improve the understanding of local adaptation decision-making. The project is an inter-disciplinary piece of work, applying theories of rural development (e.g., sustainable livelihood approach), environmental psychology (e.g., protection motivation) and behavioral economics (e.g., random utility theory) to structure the analyses. Currently, I volunteer to work for the Research Program on Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security (CCAFS) on constructing the index for national commitment to climate-smart agriculture.
|
Wenhai – the mountain village situated at the foot of the Jade Dragon Snow Mountain, which keeps retreating in recent years due to global warming and frequent droughts. |
Yi people, dressed in traditional costumes living in remote mountain villages, southwest China. |
The Naxi elder in her 80s, who has experienced significant livelihood changes during the past three decades. |
