In this talk, I will address how the social sciences, particularly economics, is used in planning for,  understanding the effects of and implementing major global environmental strategies associated with the Nature Conservancy.  I will provide examples of different multi-disciplinary science projects and how they advance conservation actions across the globe. The talk will end with a discussion on research gaps, emerging areas for further work and the challenges associated with environment and development. 

Dr. Priya Shyamsundar is Lead Economist at the Nature Conservancy,  where she leads a Global Science team that undertakes research on economics and policy issues related to environmental management. The Economics and Policy team addresses two main questions: How do conservation interventions affect human wellbeing? And how can we encourage people to undertake more conservation?  Priya’s own research covers a range of local conservation to global climate change issues, with a particular focus on economic development. Priya has served on advisory panels for the Government of India, the World Bank,  IGBP, and the International Institute for Sustainable Development, Canada. Previously, Priya was Founder Director of SANDEE, a research network focused on solutions to shared environment-development challenges across seven countries in South Asia, and also consulted extensively for the World Bank. As a member of IUFRO’s Expert Panel on Forests and Poverty, she was involved in an IPCC type global assessment of forests and poverty.  More recently, she served as a member of the Science Taskforce supporting the UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration.