News J-WAFS Community Spotlight on Scott Odell

Scott Odell shares insights on his J-WAFS Seed Grant project on hydrosocial displacements, notably in mining regions impacted by climate change.

Jiaqi Zhang and Avery Plachcinski, J-WAFS March 21, 2024

Scott D. Odell is a post-doctoral associate in the MIT Environmental Solutions Initiative (ESI). He is also a professional lecturer in George Washington University's Elliott School of International Affairs and a faculty member of the Anant Fellowship for Climate Action, and has held prior positions as a visiting researcher at Georgetown University, resident tutor at Harvard University, and program associate at the Inter-American Dialogue. He has received grants from the Inter-American Foundation and the MIT Sloan Latin American Office. He holds a PhD in geography from Clark University and a BSFS in science, technology, and international affairs from Georgetown University.

In this video, Scott shared insights on hydrosocial displacements—how resolving water conflicts in one area can inadvertently shift them to another, notably in mining regions impacted by climate change. Odell is collaborating with John E. Fernández, ESI director and professor in the MIT Department of Architecture, and Caroline White-Nockleby, a PhD candidate in MIT’s Program in Science, Technology, and Society, on a project examining the converging impacts of climate change, mining, and agriculture in Chile. This work is supported by a seed grant from J-WAFS.

“Despite broad academic engagement with mining and climate change separately, there has been a lack of analysis of the societal implications of the interactions between mining and climate change,” says Odell. “This project is helping to fill the knowledge gap. Results will be summarized in Spanish and English and distributed to interested and relevant parties in Chile, ensuring that the results can be of benefit to those most impacted by these challenges.”

Learn more about Scott Odell in this video