World Affairs

Posted: January 16th, 2014

Select one country in Africa or Latin America as your focus. I recommend that you review the physical maps, the WRI tables on that country, or use Gapminder to review the types of ecosystems in that country and the challenges faced there with regard to poverty and sustainability.

Your task is then as follows – You are an applicant to the Groom Foundation for Sustainable Partnerships. You are applying for a one year fellowship to travel to your country of choice to work with a local conservation and sustainable development NGO. You want to impress the selection committee with the depth of your understanding about development and conservation issues, and to propose your vision for how the NGO could foster greater sustainability in agricultural practices and at least 1 additional arena for development: choose either
1) livestock management, 2) oil & mineral extraction, 3) bushmeat hunting, and 4) forestry.

Evaluated on a 10 point scale, favoring those application essays that match their vision to the country’s needs, and persuasively argue in favor of practices that could make a large difference in improving the livelihoods of people while conserving biodiversity to the maximum extent possible. Need not address the entire country, but rather could address a portion of the country.

It is imperative that you cite any sources that you use to support your points or to illustrate opportunities. You can be certain that a person who cites no sources will not receive a credit.