Population and Environment: Interdisciplinary Perspectives

The nexus of population and environmental change is one of the most important interactions with regards to the future of human societies. Scholars and policy makers have been trying to understand as well as influence how population dynamics are linked to the use of natural resources. Our contemporary understanding of the interaction between population and environment is much more complex since the late 18th century when Thomas Malthus first envisioned that overpopulation will deplete natural resources. This complexity includes the concept of sustainability and increased societal responsibility for preserving natural resources and ecological conditions for future generations.

The relationship between population and environment has a very important feature: it provides a link between social sciences and natural sciences. This link has been less utilized in the past, although both sides would gain significant benefits from it. Population dynamics create certain demands for resources, while the changing natural resources create national and community development challenges. To better understand this interaction, natural and social sciences should work together answering scientific and policy-related questions that cross over disciplines.

The Consortium for Global Research on Water-Based Economies (GRoWE) addresses these challenges and by creating an interdisciplinary environment for research and education it brings together scholars from various fields to study natural resources, environment and socioeconomic development. At this symposium we host distinguished experts on the study of population and environment who will discuss the conceptual foundations, as well as practical issues in social demography, economics and development sociology. The goal of the symposium series is to leverage and promote the collaborative GRoWE activities at Kansas State University and is being funded by the Provost's Targeted Excellence Program.

The symposium will be held:
Date: Friday, November 10, 2006
Place: Fiedler Hall on the Kansas State University Campus, Manhattan, Kansas
Time: 8:30-9:00 AM Registration
9:00-12:15 PM Speakers and Discussants

Invited distinguished guests include Lori Hunter (Associate Professor of Sociology at the University of Colorado at Boulder), Dietrich Earnhart (Associate Professor of Economics at the University of Kansas), and Max Pfeffer (Professor of Sociology at Cornell University).

GRoWE is a multi-disciplinary group of researchers with the shared vision, "To help citizens, planning agencies and policy makers understand both the technical aspects of aquifer management and the economic, social and natural system impacts of groundwater management strategies."

There is no cost to attend the symposium, but you must register to ensure that there are enough materials.