Me and my long-term research assistant Aime SOME (left) and T.D. OUEDRAOGO (right)
I am an ecological anthropologist broadly interested in the human ecology of global change. This means I am interested in the ways individuals, households and societies adapt to the impacts of climate change and globalization. I mostly conduct social-ecological fieldwork in the Sahel of West Africa where I have worked in the northern Central Plateau region of Burkina Faso. Some of my research has also been in Western Alaska and the Southwest United States. I have more recently started working in the Savanes Region of northern Togo.
My research themes include: climate change, sustainable livelihoods, food security, and especially households. I employ a wide range of methods that include: GIS, remote sensing, ethnography, household survey, and agent-based modeling. I currently have a National Science Foundation project integrating ethnography with remote sensing in Burkina Faso and Togo.
I am recruiting graduate students for the Human Ecology Lab. Candidates can apply through the UNC Department of Anthropology or Ecology, Environment, and Energy Program (E3P). Please contact me beforehand so we can discuss fit.
Select Publications:
Ilboudo Nébié, E.K., C.T. West, and T.A. Crane. 2020. ‘Where’s the Map?’: Integrating Ethnography with Maps to Understand Complementarity between Pastoral Mobility and Border Formation. Journal of Political Ecology 27:795-818.
West, C.T., S. Benecky, C. Karlsson, I. Reiss, and A.J. Moody. 2020. Bottom-up Perspectives on the Re-greening of the Sahel: An Evaluation of the Spatial Relationship between Soil and Water Conservation (SWC) and Tree-cover in Burkina Faso. Land 9:208.
West, C.T., Ilboudo Nébié, E.K, and A.J. Moody. 2020. Participatory Mapping with High-resolution Satellite Imagery: A Mixed Method Assessment of Land Degradation and Rehabilitation in Northern Burkina Faso. Journal of Ecological Anthropology 22(1):1.
West, C.T., A. Moody, and E.K. Nébié. 2017. Ground-truthing Sahelian Greening: Ethnographic and Spatial Evidence from Burkina Faso. Human Ecology 45(1):89-101.
West, C.T. 2009. Domestic Transitions, Desiccation, Agricultural Intensification, and Livelihood Diversification among Rural Households on the Central Plateau, Burkina Faso. American Anthropologist 11(3):275-288.
Dear Prof West,
I am Bhekiwe Hlope (Ms) a current resident of Eswatini (Southern Africa) with an interest in decarbonisation strategies.
I am interested to be one of your PhD students. I am interested in exploring the economy and preservation of non-timber forest products in the face of adverse climate conditions or conflict management in communal shared resources / ecosystem services in the backdrop of climate change.
My first degree is a B.Sc in Biology and Chemistry as majors with a concurrent Diploma in Education from the University of Swaziland . My Masters degrees have been in Environmental Engineering and in Business Management and Administration (MBA) from the University of Newcastle upon Tyne (UK) and Stellenbosch (RSA) respectively. I have actively taken part in national greenhouse gas inventory as a Waste expert; as a national consultant in the development of the first INDC and recently in the MRV framework.
My work background spans in water & sewage operations, quality management; environmental risk management, construction compliance monitoring (including as third-party auditor) for international funders and organizations and OSH.
I would like to share my CV for your review and consideration.
I look forward to hearing from you.
Kindest regards,
Hello, Bhekiwe. Thank you for your interest. I’m sorry but I don’t see how your interests align with those of the Lab. I’m sure you can find a great PhD position elsewhere.
Best of luck and thanks again.
CTW