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Drought Policy: Comparison of Australia and the United StatesWednesday, June 30 2010 Senate Capitol Visitors Center 209 There are lessons to be learned from recent experiences with drought in Australia and the United States. Drought presents strikingly similar challenges in the U.S. and Australia in terms of the biophysical environment, the jurisdictional challenges of federal systems and the more general economic and social challenges facing farming in developed economies. Australia introduced its National Drought Policy in 1992 and the policy has just undergone a major review, which may contain useful lessons for the U.S. about drought policy development and implementation. Agenda Moderator Speakers RogerPulwarty, Physical Scientist and Director, National Integrated Drought Information System (NIDIS), National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) (PDF of presentation, 78 kB) Linda Botterill, Fellow in the Research School of Social Sciences at the Australian National University and Director, National Institute for Rural and Regional Australia (PDF of presentation, 5.4 MB) Speaker Biographies Donald Wilhite is Dean of the School of Natural Resources at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, where he has been on the faculty since 1977. He founded and was the first director of the National Drought Mitigation Center. His research centers on drought management, monitoring, and preparedness, the policy implications of climate variability and climate change, and the effects of climate on society and societal responses to extreme climate events, particularly drought. In conjunction with this research, he has conducted training seminars and workshops in developing and developed countries to help governments create drought preparedness plans. Wilhite received his master’s degree in geography from Arizona State University and his doctorate degree in climatology and water resources from the University of Nebraska – Lincoln. Linda Botterill is a Fellow in the Politics and International Relations Program in the Research School of Social Sciences at the Australian National University and Director of the National Institute for Rural and Regional Australia. Her research interest is in the area of Australian rural policy, with a focus on drought, rural adjustment, farm welfare, food regulation and the grains industry. She is Australia’s leading expert on drought policy and is regularly invited to speak internationally on Australia’s experience of implementing a risk management approach to drought. Dr Botterill has been collaborating with members of the National Drought Mitigation Center for nearly a decade, comparing drought policy approaches in Australia and the US. Before commencing her academic career, she had extensive experience in public policy development in the Australian Public Service, as a ministerial adviser and as a policy officer in two industry associations. She has a PhD in Political Science and International Relations from the Australian National University. Sponsors The Alliance invites your participation in the briefing and in future Caucus events. For more information, contact Maeve Boland at 703-379-2480 ext. 228; boland@agiweb.org.
Contributed Linda Rowan, AGI Government Affairs Staff. Posted: July 1, 2010 Please send any comments or questions about this web site to Maeve Boland. |
