DirectorBuilding Capacity and Expanding Horizons (2011-2014)Th is project, generously supported by The Henry Luce Foundation, aims to enhance Asian Environmental Studies at HWS and
across the campuses of peer liberal arts institutions. The project builds on existing institutional strengths and seeks to infuse
East Asia content in a meaningful and
substantive manner into teaching and research on
human-environment relations.
Photo: Rice fields in Guilin, Summer 2005 (D. Magee)
Co-Principal InvestigatorIntegrated Dam Assessment Modeling (IDAM)
2008-2011: Co-PI, NSF Grant BCS-0826771, “HSD: RUI: Collaborative Research: Interdisciplinary Research and Methods for Assessing Dams as Agents of Change in China”
The Integrative Dam Assessment Modeling (IDAM) tool is designed to integrate biophysical, socioeconomic, and geopolitical perspectives into a single cost/benefit analysis of dam construction. Each of 21 different impacts of dam construction is evaluated both objectively (e.g., flood protection, as measured by RYI years) and subjectively (i.e., the valuation of said flood protection) by a team of decision-makers. By providing a visual representation of the various costs and benefits associated with two or more dams, the IDAM tool allows decision-makers to evaluate alternatives and to articulate priorities associated with a dam project, making the decision process about dams more informed and more transparent. For all of these reasons, we believe that the IDAM tool represents an important evolutionary step in dam evaluation.
Photo: Xiaowan Dam Construction Site (2005). Chinese sign reads "Erect a Scientific Development Perspective, Construct an Ecological Hydropower Station" (D. Magee)
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