Rachel Bezner Kerr discusses her work in African farmers Feb. 21 at the Third Annual Young Social Scientists Sustainability Research Forum.
The social sciences have a critical role in sustainability research, asserted Kim Weeden, the Robert S. Harrison Director of the Institute for the Social Sciences, Feb. 21 at the Third Annual Young Social Scientists' Sustainability Research Forum at the ILR Conference Center, where six faculty members presented their research. "We can't understand climate change, for example, without studying ice core temperatures and the impact of carbon dioxide levels, but we also can't understand climate change unless we understand its social dimensions," Weeden said. Take biofuels, for example. Public policies that promote biofuels and reduce greenhouse gas emissions have had significant negative impacts, according to research by David Just, associate professor of applied economics and management. His work shows that such policies can dramatically increase food prices, he said. In a study on the social impact of microcredit programs offering collateral-free lending in developing countries, economic sociologist Paromita Sanyal, assistant professor of sociology, said that she found that women tend to benefit more from group-based microcredit programs than from loans and female-entrepreneurship.
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