The College of Earth and Mineral Sciences is the home of AESEDA at Penn State. The broad interest of EMS faculty in African research initiatives led to the launch of AESEDA.
RESEARCH
Through AESEDA, partners can build and develop collaborative interdisciplinary research initiatives with affiliated faculty.
Current research initiatives
AfricaArray—Dr. Andrew Nyblade leads this coupled training and research program for building and maintaining a scientific workforce for Africa's natural resource sector.
Small-scale mining in West Africa— Dr. Petra Tschakert works on livelihood constraints and opportunities among small-scale and artisanal miners, both men and women, in West Africa. Most miners are driven by poverty into an income generating activity that involves high risks and environmentally unsustainable practices.
- Pilot research project on human and environmental health among small-scale gold miners in Ghana
- January 2008 workshop on Building a Research Infrastructure on Human and Environmental Health in Ghana's Small-Scale Gold Mining Sector (funded by the SSRI)
- July 2008 US-Ghana Workshop on Resilience in Small-Scale Mining (funded by the NSF)
Continental Volcanic Studies—Dr. Tanya Furman's long standing geochemical and petrologic research program aimed at understanding magmatism associated with continental rifting. Current active research programs are on-going in Ethiopia, Kenya, Rwanda and Tanzania. For further information, contact Dr. Tanya Furman.
Africa Environmental Change—Several projects on global environmental change with emphasis on Africa are being lead by a number of faculty, including study of climate change scenarios Dr. Robert Crane), impacts and adaptation (Dr. Paul Desanker), land management and rural livelihoods (Dr. Petra Tschakert), and land use change (Dr. I.B. Logan). Dr. Desanker is also involved in developing climate change policy especially in areas of carbon management and adaptation in the context of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).
Least Developed Countries (LDCs) Climate Change Adaptation Programme—Dr. Paul Desanker is actively involved in development of assessment methods being used by LDCs in planning adaptation to climate change under the National Adaptation Programme of Action (NAPA) under the UNFCCC. He is currently chairing the UNFCCC LDC Expert Group. He has recently authored a book on NAPA, titled "The NAPA Primer".
Terrestrial Carbon Management—Research on terrestrial carbon management is being carried out in many parts of Africa including West Africa by Dr. Petra Tschakert (who is primarily focused on soil carbon management) and southern Africa by Dr. Paul Desanker (focused on forest carbon management). Field studies are complemented by participation in international committees (Afforestation/Reforestation Working Group of the Executive Board of the Clean Development Mechanism of the Kyoto Protocol under the UNFCCC.
Environmental Monitoring—Dr. Paul Desanker coordinates a southern African contribution to an international global land cover and land use monitoring program using satellite data called Global Observation of Forest Cover and Land Use Dynamics (GOFC-GOLD), a component of the Global Terrestrial Observing System (GTOS).
Proposed Research Initiatives
Georesources Capacity Building is a joint program between AESEDA and ChevronTexaco that proposes public-private partnership as a framework for building human and institutional capacity needed to encourage broader participation of indigenes of the Niger Delta in the georesources industry. For more information, please contact Michael Adewumi, Director of AESEDA.
Health and Georesources Management Initiative—This initiative is aimed at developing a global health program that is based on a multidisciplinary educational framework for addressing African health issues in the context of georesource management, environmental protection, social and cultural identity, and sustainable development. Its goal is to train a new cadre of health scientists and practitioners as well as mining and petroleum engineers to holistically address the root causes of poverty, inequality and disease in Africa. For more information, please contact Dr. Collins Airhihenbuwa.