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Graham McDowell

I am interested in the socio-ecological dimensions of environmental change in high mountain and Arctic regions. To this end, I have led projects in the Nepal Himalaya, Rocky Mountains, Greenland, and the Canadian Arctic as well as numerous global-scale assessments of environmental change in cold regions. My doctoral research builds upon this experience and is focused on 1) characterizing how changes in the high mountain cryosphere––particularly climate-related changes in snow/glacial hydrology––propagate through interlinked socio-ecological systems and 2) the development of principles for responding to cryospheric changes in ways that are both socially and ecologically tenable. This work is supervised by Drs. Leila Harris and Michele Koppes, and is supported by committee members including Kai Chan. I am combining insights from socio-ecological resilience, political ecology, and fieldwork in globally significant high mountain regions to elicit information found at the intersection of coupled socio-ecological systems thinking, critical social theory, and lived experiences of environmental change. The project contributes broadly to the advancement of integrative environmental change scholarship, while also providing actionable governance recommendations forsupporting human well-being and ecological resilience in the context of a rapidly changing cryosphere.

Prior to beginning my doctoral studies at UBC, I completed an MSc in Environmental Change and Management at Oxford University and an Honours degree in Geography at McGill University.

Personal Website: grahammcdowellresearch.com

Email: grahammcdowell@gmail.com

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