This is the first in a monthly Mekong data seminar series featuring presentations of recent studies and papers by authors with an interactive discussion about the data and why it matters.
The flooded forests upstream of Stung Treng and downstream from the Khone Falls in northeastern Cambodia along the Mekong River are included within a designated Ramsar Wetland site, due to its exceptional and unique biodiversity—but the cumulative impacts of dams upstream are disrupting the seasonal ebb and flow of water, damaging the flooded forest’s ecosystem due to high water volumes during the dry season. Additional dams and associated changes to water flow could eradicate these flooded forests and their unique ecosystems without further action. Join us for a data discussion with Dr. Ian Baird from the University of Wisconsin-Madison to talk about the risk and impacts of hydropower development on the flooded forests and an interactive Q&A with local experts and rising policy voices.
Featured Speaker
Ian Baird, Professor of Geography, University of Wisconsin-Madison
Ian Baird is a Professor of Geography and Southeast Asian Studies at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. His research is broadly focused on nature-society relations in Laos, Thailand and Cambodia. As a political ecologist, he is presently conducting research about hydropower dams and fish and fisheries; large-scale economic land concessions in Laos and Cambodia; Indigenous peoples in Southeast Asia; Lao, Thai, Hmong and Brao studies; and marginal histories in mainland Southeast Asia.
Data User Experts
Nguyen Pham Ngoc Thien, Lecturer, An Giang University
Pham Ngoc Thien Nguyen is a lecturer at An Giang University, Vietnam National University, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. She holds a master’s degree in education methodology in Physics from Ho Chi Minh University of Education, Vietnam. She is currently enrolled in the International Graduate Program of Education and Human Development at National Sun Yat-sen University in Taiwan and is pursuing a Ph.D. She joined the Mekong Environment Forum in 2022 as a research fellow responsible for data analysis.
Narith POR, Advisor to My Village and Assistant Professor, Build Bright University
Moderators
Brian Eyler, Southeast Asia Director, Stimson Center
Brian Eyler directs the Southeast Asia Program and the Energy, Water, and Sustainability Program. He is an expert on transboundary issues in the Mekong region and specializes in China’s economic cooperation with Southeast Asia. He is widely recognized as a leading voice on environmental, energy, and water security issues in the Mekong. Brian is co-lead on the Mekong Dam Monitor. His first book, Last Days of the Mighty Mekong, was published by Zed Books in 2019. See his full bio here.
Courtney Weatherby, Southeast Asia Deputy Director, The Stimson Center
Courtney Weatherby’s research focuses on sustainable infrastructure and energy challenges in the Indo-Pacific, particularly at the nexus of issues in food, water, and energy in the Greater Mekong Subregion. Weatherby was a lead author on a range of technical and policy studies with Pact Thailand and IUCN on hydropower investment and regional electricity trade and supports the Mekong Dam Monitor. Her full bio can be found here.