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PhD in Sustainable Development Student Profiles

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Jessica Barnes

Jessica Barnes is a fourth-year student in the Ph.D. program in Sustainable Development. The focus of her research is on water resources management in Egypt. She is interested in understanding more about how farmers, who use 80-90 percent  of the region's water, make decisions about water use in the field. Her study will trace the linkages between farmers' everyday practices of water use and regional, national, and international policy-making on water resources management. Her research will explore different actors' understandings and practices of irrigation, the structures of scientific authority and expertise that underlie the water distribution system, and the way in which different actors (both human and non-human) within the agricultural waterscape interact.

Jessica has a B.A. in Geography from Oxford University and a Master’s in Environmental Management from Yale's School of Forestry and Environmental Studies.