{"id":3767,"date":"2024-02-21T06:47:32","date_gmt":"2024-02-21T06:47:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sfs.local\/program\/himalayan-environment-and-society-in-transition\/"},"modified":"2026-01-29T19:13:12","modified_gmt":"2026-01-29T19:13:12","slug":"himalayan-environment-and-society-in-transition","status":"publish","type":"program","link":"https:\/\/fieldstudies.org\/center\/bhutan\/program\/himalayan-environment-and-society-in-transition\/","title":{"rendered":"Himalayan Environment and Society in Transition"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>Students work in high valleys where altitude shapes both ecology and culture, with prayer flags and cypress forests framing daily field studies. From alpine meadows to glacial rivers, students cross high passes with plant presses in hand, surveying biodiversity while tracing how hydropower, climate change, and rural land pressures test Bhutan\u2019s conservation ideals. Here, Gross National Happiness makes stewardship a national mandate, but modern development forces new compromises. Students engage with monastic communities where cultural practices inform approaches to land and forest stewardship, and the landscapes themselves serve as living texts for understanding conservation. Field notes become evidence, evidence sparks dialogue, and dialogue helps bridge scientific findings with community choices on forests, grazing, and rivers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Trek Chelela ridges, record DBH, canopy cover, and species counts along altitudinal transects to model forest shifts.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Analyze Punakha land use with ArcGIS, ground-truthing watershed health against on-site biodiversity indices.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Hold interviews with monks and community leaders near Tiger\u2019s Nest, exploring ties between Buddhist ritual and conservation ethics, then code emerging themes.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Facilitate community dialogues on balancing Bhutan\u2019s carbon-negative policies with pastoral and agricultural livelihoods.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Conduct Directed Research: frame a stakeholder-driven question, collect and analyze field data with faculty guidance, and present actionable findings to local partners.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Spend a semester in a corner of the Himalayas where few foreigners ever step foot. Trek through remote villages and high mountain passes to experience Bhutan\u2019s vibrant culture, Buddhist philosophy, and environmental issues firsthand. Learn about the challenges of maintaining biodiversity and traditional rural lifestyles in a time of transition. Develop skills in field research and data collection, and apply them to a research project on conservation and development issues in Bhutan.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":22952,"template":"","location":[90],"class_list":["post-3767","program","type-program","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","location-bhutan"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/fieldstudies.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/program\/3767","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/fieldstudies.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/program"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/fieldstudies.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/program"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fieldstudies.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/22952"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/fieldstudies.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3767"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"location","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fieldstudies.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/location?post=3767"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}