Christopher S. Sneddon

Assistant Professor
Department of Geography and Environmental Studies Program
Dartmouth College
6017 Fairchild
Hanover, NH 03755-6017
Tel: 603.646.0451
Email: Christopher.Sneddon@Dartmouth.Edu

Chris Sneddon's interests and curriculum vitae

My research and teaching interests come together around the question of how to reconcile human activities with the long-term integrity and vulnerability of ecological systems. Most of my work has focused on human uses of water and, in particular, on the transformation of river basins due to large-scale development. Much of this research has focused on "third world" settings in the twentieth century-e.g., the Lower Mekong Basin, the Zambesi River-but has applications to a variety of historical and geographical contexts. One of my primary interests is analysis of social conflicts over water, including scales ranging from subsistence farmers' protests of industrial pollution within small communities to conflicts over the water and water-related resources among riparian states within a transnational basin. At a conceptual level, I am interested in political ecology, ecological theory, theories of power, how to think about geographical scale and theories of nature-society relations.

My education and experiences over the past decade reflect these interests. After receiving a B.S. in Zoology from the University of Wisconsin in 1987, I served in the U.S. Peace Corps as a fisheries volunteer in the province of Kalinga-Apayao, Republic of the Philippines from 1988 to 1990. This was a transformative experience, and paved the way for my current interests in combining ecological knowledge and social theory to address complex environmental dilemmas. I completed my M.S. in Resource Policy and Planning at the University of Michigan's School of Natural Resources and Environment in 1993. While in Ann Arbor, I worked as a Program Associate with the Global Rivers Environmental Education Network (GREEN), a pioneering environmental education organization that served as an international network of programs teaching youth and adults how to monitor their local streams and watersheds. My Master's research focused on environmental movements in Southeast Asia. My doctoral research, which culminated with a Ph.D. in Geography at the University of Minnesota in August 2000, focused on conflicts over water in Northeast Thailand.

In my position at Dartmouth College, I am developing a research proposal on comparative water politics in the Lower Mekong, Zambesi and Upper Mississippi basins. I teach courses in environmental history (ENVS 7), the environmental politics of Southeast Asia (Geog/ENVS 44), qualitative research methods (Geog 11) and environmental policy and politics (ENVS 3) (with Rich Howarth).

Education

University of Minnesota, Ph. D. in Geography, August 2000

University of Michigan (School of Natural Resources and Environment), M.S. in Resource Policy, August 1993

University of Wisconsin, B.S. in Zoology, August 1987

Publications

Under review

"Domesticating a White Elephant: regional conflict, sustainability and the Cahora Bassa Dam, Mozambique," (co-author with Allen Isaacman) submitted to Development and Change, January 2002.

Forthcoming

"Altered rivers and scales of conflict: the case of Nam Phong basin, Northeast Thailand," accepted for publication in Society and Natural Resources (special issue on water and conflict).

"Introduction: scale, sustainability and conflicts over water," accepted for publication in Society and Natural Resources (special issue on water and conflict) (lead author with several co- authors).

"Fanning the flames: a history of Cahora Bassa's role in southern African instability," In: World Rivers Review16(6):6-ff (co-author with Allen Isaacman). 2002

"Politics, ecology and water: the Mekong Delta and the development of the Lower Mekong Basin," In: N. Adger, M. Kelly and Nguyen Huu Ninh, editors, Living with Environmental Change: Social Vulnerability and Resilience in Vietnam, New York: Routledge, pp. 234-262 (lead author with Binh Thanh Nguyen). 2001

"'Sustainability' in ecological economics, ecology and livelihoods: a review," Progress in Human Geography 24(4): 521-549. 2000

"Towards a social and environmental history of building the Cahora Bassa Dam," Journal of South African Studies 26(4):597-632 (co-author with Allen Isaacman). 2000

Book Reviews

Forthcoming

Review of Adrian Leftwich, States of Development: On the Primacy of Politics in Development (Cambridge, UK: Polity, 2000) in Progress in Development Studies

Review of Susan Baker et al., The Politics of Sustainable Development: Theory, Policy and Practice within the European Union (London: Routledge, 1997), in Ethics, Place and Environment. 2002

Review of Donna Haraway, Modest_Witness@Second_Millenium. FemaleMan"_Meets_OncoMouse': Feminism and Technoscience (New York: Routledge, 1997), in Ethics, Place and Environment. 2000

Presentations
"Understanding transboundary water conflicts and cooperation: contributions from political ecology and critical geopolitics," (co-author with Coleen Fox) to be presented at session on Transboundary and Transbasin Management at the Natural Resources Law Center's conference "Allocating and Managing Water for a Sustainable Future: Lessons from Around the World," 11-14 June 2002, Boulder, CO, USA. 2002

"Water resource development and the politics of scale in the Lower Mekong basin," invited lecture for the Graduate Colloquium, Northern Illinois University, 5 April 2002, DeKalb, Illinois, USA. 2002

"Reconfiguring scale and power: the Khong-Chi-Mun project in Northeast Thailand," to be presented at the 98th Annual Meeting of the Association of American Geographers, 19-23 March 2002, Los Angeles, California, USA. 2002

"Sustainable River Basins: Power, Scale and Institutions in the Lower Mekong Basin," presentation to the Human Dimensions of Environmental Change Faculty Workshops series, Nelson A. Rockefeller Center at Dartmouth College, 13 November 2001, Hanover, NH, USA. 2001

"Sustainable river basins? Linking social resilience and ecological integrity at multiple geographical scales in the Lower Mekong Basin," presented at the Third Conference of the European Association for South-East Aisan Studies (EUROSEAS), 6-8 September 2002, London. 2001

"Sustaining ecosystems and (or) livelihoods in the Lower Zambesi Valley, Mozambique," presented at the 97th Annual Meeting of the Association of American Geographers, 27 Feb-3 March 2001, New York City, USA. 2001

"The political ecology of floodplain restoration in the Lower Zambesi Valley," presented at the First Annual Research Celebration, 30 Mar-1 April 2001, Dartmouth College, Hanover, NH, USA. 2001

"Scales of conflict and altered rivers: the case of Nam Phong basin," presented at the 96th Annual Meeting of the Association of American Geographers, 4-8 April 200, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. 2000

"Scales of conflict and altered rivers in Northeast Thailand: the case of Nam Phong basin," presented at Council on Thai Studies (COTS) Conference, 8-10 October 1999, University of Wisconsin, Madison, Wisconsin. 1999

"The river basin as common-pool resource: prospects for 'scaling-up' in Northeast Thailand," in proceedings of the Sixth Conference of the International Association for the Study of Common Property, 9-13 June 1998, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia. 1998

"Altered rivers: socio-ecological transformation, water conflicts and the state in Northeast Thailand," presented at the Annual Meeting of the Association of American Geographers, 25-29 March 1998, Boston. 1998

"Chiang Mai and Khon Kaen as Growth Poles: Regional Industrial Development in Thailand and its Implications for Urban Sustainability" (with Jim Glassman), presented at the MacArthur Interdisciplinary Consortium on Peace and International Cooperation Workshop on Urban Sustainability, 25-27 January 1998, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minnesota. 1998

"Rethinking sustainability: towards an integrative framework," Working Paper Number 14, MacArthur Consortium on Peace and International Cooperation Working Paper Series, Minneapolis, Minnesota. 1997

"The historical roots of water conflicts in Northeast Thailand," presented at the First International Conference on Critical Geography, 9-14 August 1997, Univ. of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia. 1997

"The 'sustainability of sustainability:' a survey of emerging trends," presented at the MacArthur Interdisciplinary Program in Peace and International Cooperation, Consortium Workshop for the Sustainability Network, 16-17 February 1996, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minnesota. 1996

"Ebbing and flowing through Isaan: water, power and politics in Northeast Thailand," presented at the Department of Geography Coffee Hour, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minnesota, 7 September 1996.

"A historical geographical analysis of development in the Lower Mekong Basin," presented at the MacArthur Interdisciplinary Program in Peace and International Cooperation, Consortium Workshop for the Natural Resources, Trade and the Environment Network, 7-9 April 1995, University of Wisconsin, Madison, Wisconsin. 1995

"Environmental conflict in Thailand: the Nam Choan and Pak Mun dam controversies," presented at the Southeast Asia Summer Studies Institute "Works in Progress II" Conference, 12-14 July 1993, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington. 1993

"Low-cost technology in developing countries," GREEN Newsletter Vol. 5 (Dec 1992), No. 4, 3- (Newsletter of the Global Rivers Environmental Education Network). 1992

Fellowships/Grants/Financial Awards

December 2001 - Faculty Research Fellowship, Nelson A. Rockefeller Center, Dartmouth College, $4,000 over nine months
October 2000 - Walter and Constance Burke Research Initiation Award, Dartmouth College, $25,000
August 1999 - MacArthur Foundation Grant (coordinated by Allen Isaacman) in conjunction with the International Crane Foundation to study the social and ecological impacts of the Cahora Bassa Dam, $75,000
Jan-June 1998 Awardee, Institute for Social, Economic & Ecological Sustainability Publication Competition, $500
Mar 1998 Doctoral Dissertation Fellowship Research Presentation Award, $500
1997-98 Doctoral Dissertation Fellowship, Univ. of Minn., $11,000
1997-98 Darrell Haug Davis Memorial Fellowship, Univ. of Minn., Department of Geography, $10,500 (declined)
Jan-Aug 1997 Doctoral Dissertation Improvement Grant, National Science Foundation, $8,050
June-Aug 1996 Predissertation Fieldwork Grant, Univ. of Minn., MacArthur Program, $2,000
June-Aug 1996 Summer Research Grant, Univ. of Minn., Department of Geography, $2,000
1995-present Fellowship in the MacArthur Interdisciplinary Program on Global Change, Sustainability and Justice, University of Minnesota, $55,000 over four years
1995­1996 Graduate School Fellowship, University of Minnesota (in conjunction with MacArthur Program)
June 1993 University of Michigan Travel Fellowship, $250
1983­1987 National Merit Scholarship, University of Wisconsin, $2000

Professional/Academic Service

March 2002 Co-organizer and co-chair, four panels on "Water and Society: Scale, Power and Boundaries" at the 98th Annual Meeting of the Association of American Geographers, 19-23 March 2002, Los Angeles, California, USA.

September 2001 Referee for journals Society and Natural Resources, Environment and Planning A, and Political Geography

Nov 2000- present Member, Science Advisory Committee, Connecticut River Watershed Council.

April 2000 Organizer, panel on "The political ecology of water" at the Assoc. of American Geographers Annual Conference, 4-8 April 2000, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

1997-present Coordinator and Managing Editor, Water and Conflict Research Network, MacArthur Interdisciplinary Consortium on Global Change, Univ. of Minn., Stanford University and Univ. of Wisconsin.

June 1998 Organizer and Chair, Panel at the 6th Conference of the International Association for the Study of Common Property on "Rhetoric versus reality: co-management of common-pool resource regimes," 9-14 June 1998, Vancouver, British Columbia.

Mar 1998 Organizer, Special Panel on "Environmental conflict as social resistance: the case of water" at the Assoc. of American Geographers Annual Conf. 25-29 March 1998, Boston, Massachusetts

Sept-Dec 1997 Member of Academic Hiring Search Committee, Department of Geography, Univ. of Minn.

1995-1996 Member of Planning Committee, MacArthur Consortium. Member of Graduate Education Policy Committee, Department of Geography, Univ. of Minn.

1992-93 Student Representative, Executive Board of the Global Rivers Environmental Education Network

Professional Memberships
Association of American Geographers (AAG)
International Associaton for Society and Natural Resources (IASNR)
International Association for the Study of Common Property (IASCP)
International Water Resources Association (IWRA)

Language Skills

Ilocano (Philippines) ­ proficient
Thai ­ intermediate