Fall 2015

I am truly honored to have the opportunity to lead a study abroad program down the Mekong River this fall. I am excited to continue studying and observing the impact of large-scale hydropower on the environment and society.  The curriculum of our program will focus on China’s hydroelectric dam and engineering projects that threaten Southeast Asia’s fragile river ecology and the unique river cultures of the lower-Mekong. Many riverside communities in Laos and Cambodia rely on the Mekong for local trade, transportation, and their primary source of protein, fish. By focusing on the interdependency of people and the natural world, this semester course will explore the ways in which the demand for electricity and resource management policies are causing irreparable damage to fragile ecosystems and traditional ways of life.

It is my intention to use this blog to document the impact that large-scale hydropower is having on the Mekong River’s environment, through my eyes and the viewpoint of locals that I meet along the journey. I also hope to be able to dispel the myth of large-scale hydropower generation as being a clean and renewable energy, as well as chronicle the true impact of relocation/resettlement on those that are economically and socially vulnerable.

Through drawing attention to these issues at the environment and development nexus, it is my hope that a greater and more transparent discussion will begin to take place on the viability and cost/benefit of continued large-scale hydropower development.

无源之水，无本之本。“Water without a source, is a tree without roots”.

The Lowe Sesan II Dam (July 2014)