What's New
What’s New? is a current digest of the Population-Environment Research Network (PERN), containing pertinent and up to date information to facilitate research and advance knowledge of population environment relationships. Previous "What’s New" newsletters (pdf) can be found via the "Past Newsletters" menu at the bottom of this page. Also try the top menu links to search/browse Events Calendar, Jobs/Funding, and eLibrary listings by year. Also, check out recent announcements on PERN's Twitter feed and Facebook page
Special Announcements
- The Population-Environment Research Network (PERN) held a successful cyberseminar on “Refugee and internally displaced populations, environmental impacts and climate risks”. Read the background paper, expert papers and postings, and watch the kick-off webinar. PERN wishes to thank the co-organizers, Jamon van den Hoek and David Wrathall, and the panel of experts for thought provoking contributions. Visit: https://www.populationenvironmentresearch.org/cyberseminars/10800
- Save the date for IUSSP’s next webinar on “Climate Change and Population Dynamics” to be organized by PERN in collaboration with IUSSP and the European Association for Population Studies (EAPS) on 16 September (10:00 New York | 16:00 Paris | 19:30 New Delhi). Details to follow through the PERN discussion list.
- The Columbia Climate School has organized a virtual conference, At What Point Managed Retreat? Resilience, Relocation and Climate Justice, from 22-25 June. The conference convened 850 participants for 53 sessions over 4 days, addressing managed retreat issues related to sea level rise and other climate impacts such as wildfire and major stormes in the US and around the world. Most session recordings will be made available free of charge online in the near future. Visit https://adaptation.ei.columbia.edu/content/2021-conference-homepage.
close/open all
Conferences/Workshops/Public Discussions
Call for Articles by the Forced Migration Review - Climate Crisis and Displacement: from Commitment to Action
In 2008, the first Forced Migration Review (FMR) issue focusing on climate change and displacement was published. This issue explored the potential impact of climate change on people’s mobility and the tension between the need for research and the need to act. Thirteen years on, the debate should no longer be about the need to act but about how to act. There is now a range of high-level commitments, policy instruments, stakeholder partnerships, and mechanisms to provide guidance for international actors on how to avert, minimize and address internal and cross-border displacement related to the adverse effects of climate change.
In March 2022, FMR will publish an issue debating how to strengthen action by international, regional and national actors in light of these frameworks and commitments – that is, how to move from commitment to action. The deadline for submissions is 25 October 2021.
More information: https://www.fmreview.org/issue69
5th Asian Population Association Virtual Conference (APA). Change of dates (3-5 August 2021)
The 5th Asian Population Association (APA) virtual conference will now be held on 3-5 August 2021 (instead of 20-22 July 2021). This is to accommodate participants who might be observing Eid al-Adha.
The virtual conference will bring together scholars, researchers, policymakers, and government officials to discuss Asian population issues. It will include live sessions, pre-recorded video sessions, and poster sessions. There will be an inclusive programme with close to 200 live presentations and talks and a large number of pre-recorded talks and posters. The video sessions and posters will be hosted online and will be available for at least six months after the conference.
For more information, please visit the website of the Asian Population Association, https://www.asianpa.org/
ICURA 2022: 16. International Conference on Urban Resilience and Adaptation
The International Research Conference is a federated organization dedicated to bringing together a significant number of diverse scholarly events for presentation within the conference program.
ICURA 2022: 16 aims to bring together leading academic scientists, researchers and research scholars to exchange and share their experiences and research results on all aspects of Urban Resilience and Adaptation. It also provides a premier interdisciplinary platform for researchers, practitioners and educators to present and discuss the most recent innovations, trends, and concerns as well as practical challenges encountered and solutions adopted in the fields of Urban Resilience and Adaptation.
Prospective authors are kindly encouraged to contribute to and help shape the conference through submissions of their research abstracts, papers and e-posters. Also, high quality research contributions describing original and unpublished results of conceptual, constructive, empirical, experimental, or theoretical work in all areas of Urban Resilience and Adaptation are cordially invited for presentation at the conference. The conference solicits contributions of abstracts, papers and e-posters that address themes and topics of the conference, including figures, tables and references of novel research materials.
Abstracts/Full-Text Paper Submission Deadline: 30 June 2021
For more information, see https://waset.org/urban-resilience-and-adaptation-conference-in-march-2022-in-rio-de-janeiro
Funding/Study/Work Opportunities
Marie Curie Postdoctoral Fellowships (Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research)
The Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research invites Expressions of Interest proposals to participate in the Marie S. Curie Individual Fellowships scheme with the MPIDR as host institution. The scheme enables experienced researchers (PhD or equivalent research experience) from across the globe to conduct a research and professional development project at a European research institution for up to 2 years. It pays a generous monthly stipend, and several allowances.
Interested applicants should send a 3-page summary proposal and your CV to the contact address below. The proposal should contain an outline of their research project, and information on their professional development and implementation/dissemination plans.
Please send your applications no later than 15 August 2021.
For further information, see https://www.demogr.mpg.de/en/career_6122/jobs_fellowships_1910/marie_sklodowska_curie_postdoctoral_fellowships_9228
Postdoctoral Scholar Opportunity (University of Kentucky)
The University of Kentucky is seeking a postdoctoral scholar in environmental epidemiology. The scholar will contribute to research on early life and adolescent environmental exposures and neurodevelopmental health as part of ongoing projects in the Haynes Research Laboratory in the Department of Epidemiology. The scholar will lead analyses and manuscripts evaluating neurodevelopmental health outcomes and exposure to metals and perfluoroalkyl substances. The postdoctoral fellow will work with a dedicated mentor in a supportive research environment. The scholar will also contribute to community engagement and outreach related to the research study. Other activities include participation in a youth advisory board, development of infographics and other data design, and report-back of individual and community-level research study results. In addition, the scholar will also have opportunities to pursue career development activities, present at professional conferences, develop independent research projects and apply for K99/R00 or other research grants.
Qualifications: Candidates must have a PhD or equivalent graduate degree in epidemiology, environmental health sciences, biostatistics, or related field. Programming and data management skills in SAS, R, or Stata as well as excellent writing skills are required. Additional desired qualifications include experience in children’s environmental health research, biomarker-based research, graphic design using Canvas or other software, and/or statistical approaches to assess exposure to mixtures.
Deadline to Apply 16 July 2021
Candidates will need to provide a cover letter describing research interest, CV, writing sample, and list of three references.
For more information, see https://ukjobs.uky.edu/postings/337227
Postdoctoral call on “Migration in the Afromontane”: Exploring intersections with entrepreneurship and sustainable development
The Afromontane Research Unit (ARU) has established an inter-and trans-disciplinary research project titled: “Migration in the Afromontane”: Exploring intersections with entrepreneurship in QwaQwa, Free State, South Africa. The study will feed into a wider collaborative research programme between the University of the Free State, QwaQwa Campus, and Japan’s Akita International University, Faculty of International Liberal Arts, Global Studies Program, which aims to establish a sustainability science hub on the QwaQwa campus. The programme links the rural mountainous communities of QwaQwa, in the Free State province, South Africa, and Gojome town, in Akita Prefecture, Japan, through a trans-local learning approach. Trans-local learning is created by linking (trans-) different localities (local). Trans-disciplinary, trans-local approaches grounded in Sustainability Science, have the potential to create nuanced knowledge about global sustainability challenges, such as migration.
Research Focus: A two-year postdoctoral position is available in the department of Geography at the University of the Free State, QwaQwa campus. The postdoc will work with an interdisciplinary team examining the links between migration, entrepreneurship and sustainable development in QwaQwa. The position falls under the UFS-QwaQwa Risk & Vulnerability Science Centre (RVSC), funded by the NRF. The postdoctoral research associate will be expected to analyze both qualitative interview/focus group data and quantitative survey data, help lead deliberative stakeholder workshops, conduct literature reviews and employ sociological theories related to migration, entrepreneurship and sustainable development, contribute to peer-reviewed publications and presentations at professional meetings. The call presents an excellent opportunity for high-achieving researchers to be part of an innovative, internationally collaborative social science research project.
Eligibility: 1. Preference will be given to previously disadvantaged individuals; 2. A PhD degree in a relevant background discipline (e.g. Sustainability Science, Geography, or motivated other); 3. Field-work experience in rural communities; 4. Driven, disciplined, able to work as a member of a team, and be able to set and meet own deadlines; 5. A proficiency in English, both verbal and written, is required; 6. A valid driver’s license is preferable.
How to Apply: Applications should be submitted to Dr Melissa Hansen (hansenmm@ufs.ac.za) by 15 July 2021, with the following: 1. A one-page Letter of Motivation (which includes why you are interested in this project, relevant experience, and any areas of particular interest); 2. Full CV; 3. Academic Transcripts; 4. Copy of ID or Passport (latter if a foreign applicant).
Short-listed candidates will be interviewed by telephone/Skype. Applicants who do not hear any response to their application by 25 July2020 can assume that they have not been successful. The UFS reserves the right to re-advertise for this post if a suitable candidate is not found.
For further enquires please contact Dr Hansen at hansenmm@ufs.ac.za.
Geospatial data scientist position at DHS
ICF has an opening for a Geospatial Data Scientist working primarily with The Demographic and Health Survey (DHS) Program’s Geospatial team.
The Geospatial Data Scientist will primarily focus on the use of geospatial techniques to analyze demographic and health issues using DHS data. Tasks will include: managing the production of modeled surface datasets using model-based geostatistics (MBG), collaborating with other researchers to integrate geospatial data in their analysis, writing analytical reports for publication, writing code for data cleaning, debugging and testing existing code/tools for GPS processing and geostatistical model fitting, and contributing to the creation of spatial analysis outputs for use in program decision making, with a focus on the use of the data by survey countries.
The Geospatial Data Scientist will also be involved in other cross-cutting projects at ICF with a need for geostatistical analysis. The Geospatial Data Scientist will report directly to the Geospatial Research Manager and will work closely with the other members of the Geospatial team. This full-time position will be based in Rockville, MD (in the Washington, DC metro area), once it is safe to reopen offices due to COVID-19.
For more information, see https://www.icf.com/careers/jobs/R2102199
Literature/New Additions to Database
Drought and disproportionate disease: an investigation of gendered vulnerabilities to HIV/AIDS in less-developed nations
The authors explored and compared relationships between suffering from drought and total HIV prevalence and suffering from drought and women’s proportion of HIV cases using a cross-national dataset of less-developed countries and ordinary least squares (OLS) regression.
Author(s): Virginia Kuulei Berndt, Kelly F. Austinhttps://doi.org/10.1007/s11111-020-00367-1
Real-time information on air pollution and avoidance behavior: evidence from South Korea
The author investigates whether real-time information on particulate matter affects individuals’ decisions to participate in outdoor activities using data on attendance at professional baseball games in South Korea.
Author(s): Geunsik Yoohttps://doi.org/10.1007/s11111-020-00368-0
Petrochemical releases disproportionately affected socially vulnerable populations along the Texas Gulf Coast after Hurricane Harvey
The authors examined associations between the sociodemographic composition of Gulf Coast census tracts and the density of petrochemical facilities that reported releases in the month following Hurricane Harvey by calculating a Hurricane Harvey petrochemical hazard density index (PHDI) based on the locations of 42 facilities with reported releases along the Texas Gulf Coast and using sociodemographic data from the American Community Survey to examine census tract-level social inequalities in PHDI (n = 1099 tracts).
Author(s): Aaron B. Flores, Alyssa Castor, Sara E. Grineski, Timothy W. Collins, Casey Mullenhttps://doi.org/10.1007/s11111-020-00362-6
Social change, out-migration, and exit from farming in Nepal
Using multilevel dynamic models, thea authors examine associations between labor out-migration, remittances, and agricultural change in Nepal.
Author(s): Dirgha J. Ghimire, William G. Axinn, Prem Bhandarihttps://doi.org/10.1007/s11111-020-00363-5
Moving up the energy ladder: does socio-religious status matter?
Using a sample of 601,509 households and multinomial probit regression, this paper investigates the role played by socio-religious categories in determining primary cooking fuel choices among Indian households.
Author(s): Prashant Poddar, Debdatta Pal, Somdeep Chatterjeehttps://doi.org/10.1007/s11111-020-00365-3
Comparative assessment of gridded population data sets for complex topography: a study of Southwest China
The authors assess the performance of four gridded population data sets from 2015 for the Dian-Gui-Qian region of Southwest China: Gridded Population of the World version 4 (GPW4), Global Human Settlement (GHS), LandScan, and WorldPop.
Author(s): Yongming Xu, Hung Chak Ho, Anders Knudby, Miao Hehttps://doi.org/10.1007/s11111-020-00366-2
Atlas of Demography
The Atlas of Demography is a new interactive knowledge management tool that enables policy-makers and citizens to observe, monitor and anticipate demographic challenges. It aims at informing several policy areas - such as health, labour, education, access to services and amenities, territorial and cohesion policies, to name a few - with timely, robust, comparable demographic data and knowledge at the finest level of geographical detail (down to the level of a single municipality).
Knowledge Centre on Migration and Demography (KCMD) Data PortalPutting people into dynamic places: the importance of specific contexts in understanding demographic responses to changes in the natural environment
The article provides summary highlights of all the articles featured in this special issue. This issue features original research presented at the conference, Demographic Responses to Changes in the Natural Environment held at the University of Wisconsin-Madison in October 2019.
Author(s): Katherine J. Curtis, Malia Jones, Marcia J. Carlsonhttps://doi.org/10.1007/s11111-021-00386-6
Working toward effective anonymization for surveillance data: innovation at South Africa’s Agincourt Health and Socio-Demographic Surveillance Site
In this paper, the authors evaluate several geomasking techniques applied to data from the Agincourt Health and Socio-Demographic Surveillance System in rural South Africa, aimed at reducing the likelihood of respondent identification.
Author(s): Lori M. Hunter, Catherine Talbot, Wayne Twine, Joe McGlinchy, Chodziwadziwa W. Kabudula, Daniel Ohene-Kwofie
https://doi.org/10.1007/s11111-020-00372-4
Deepwater Horizon oil spill exposure and child health: a longitudinal analysis
In their study of the BP Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill (DHOS), the authors use data from the Resilient Children, Youth, and Communities study, a unique panel data, to consider the effect of DHOS exposure on health trajectories of children.
Author(s): Tim Slack, Rhiannon A. Kroeger, Samuel Stroope, Kathryn Sweet Keating, Jonathan Sury, Jeremy Brooks, Thomas Chandler, Jaishree Beedasyhttps://doi.org/10.1007/s11111-020-00354-6
Childhood exposure to polluted neighborhood environments and intergenerational income mobility, teenage birth, and incarceration in the USA
Using newly available data derived from IRS tax records at the Census tract level housed at the Opportunity Atlas, combined with estimates of exposure to air pollution from vehicle traffic and the risk of lead exposure due to older housing in poor neighborhoods, the authors examin neighborhood level associations of exposure to environmental hazards among children and outcomes in late adolescence and adulthood.
Author(s): Robert Manduca, Robert J. Sampsonhttps://doi.org/10.1007/s11111-020-00371-5
Climatic conditions and infant care: implications for child nutrition in rural Ethiopia
Using panel data from the Living Standards Measurement Study, the authors investigate the relationships between climatic conditions, breastfeeding behavior, and maternal time use in Ethiopia.
Author(s): Heather Randell, Kathryn Grace, Maryia Bakhtsiyaravahttps://doi.org/10.1007/s11111-020-00373-3
Climate variability and health in extremely vulnerable communities: investigating variations in surface water conditions and food security in the West African Sahel
Focusing on water, the authors investigate the extent to which the spatial variation in the availability of water is linked with children’s malnutrition in the Sahel, using remotely sensed-based measures of waterholes with health survey data.
Author(s): Kathryn Grace, Frank Davenporthttps://doi.org/10.1007/s11111-021-00375-9
Left home high and dry-reduced migration in response to repeated droughts in Thailand and Vietnam
Using panel data from the Thailand Vietnam Socio Economic Panel (TVSEP) from 2007 to 2017 combined with monthly high-resolution (0.5°) rainfall and temperature data, the authors explore the role of two key mediators in the association between exposure to drought and household migration: socioeconomic status and risk tolerance.
Author(s): Esteban J. Quiñones, Sabine Liebenehm, Rasadhika Sharmahttps://doi.org/10.1007/s11111-021-00374-w
Amenities or disamenities? Estimating the impacts of extreme heat and wildfire on domestic US migration
The authors investigate relationships between disaster-level fire events and extreme heat on county-level migration in the USA using annual panel data for the years 1990–2015.
Author(s): Richelle L. Winkler, Mark D. Rouleauhttps://doi.org/10.1007/s11111-020-00364-4
How climate change leads to emigration: Conditional and long-run effects
In contrast to earlier studies, to study the effect of climate change on migration from 121 developing and emerging countries to 20 OECD countries between 1980 and 2010, the authors differentiate between low- and high-skilled migrants to account for the fact that not all groups are equally vulnerable and responsive to climate change.
Author(s): Marc Helbling, Daniel Meierriekshttps://doi.org/10.1111/rode.12800
Assessing the Evidence: Climate Change and Migration in Peru
This report provides a timely assessment of climate risks, environment–migration linkages and pertinent policies in Peru.
Author(s): Jonas Bergmann, Kira Vinke, Carlos Fernandez Palomino, Christoph Gornott, Stephanie Gleixner, Rahel Laudien, Anastasia Lobanova, Josef Ludescher, Hans Joachim SchellnhuberEnglish Version, Spanish Version, Key Results
Population responses to environmental change: looking back, looking forward
This article “looks back” to the origins of the developments on research on demographic responses to changes in the natural environment over the past two decades, identifying pivotal agenda-setting moments in the 1990s and tracing the impact on contemporary research.
Author(s): Entwisle, Barbarahttps://doi.org/10.1007/s11111-021-00382-w
Food security among dryland pastoralists and agropastoralists: The climate, land-use change, and population dynamics nexus
The objective of this study was to critically review relevant literature to assess the complex web of interrelations and feedbacks that affect the factors affecting food security.
Author(s): Ilan Stavi, Joana Roque de Pinho, Anastasia K Paschalidou, Susana B Adamo, Kathleen Galvin, Alex de Sherbinin, Trevor Even, Clare Heaviside, Kees van der Geesthttps://doi.org/10.1177/20530196211007512
Population, Food and the Environment Webinar
The webinar engages different perspectives on the economic, social, and environmental impacts of population growth addressing persisting inequalities and regional variations in a round table about population, food, and the environment.
Overview, Webinar Video