Erika Weinthal

Dr. Weinthal is the Lee Hill Snowdon Professor of Environmental Policy and Associate Dean for International Programs. She specializes in global environmental politics and natural resource policies with a particular emphasis on water and energy. The main focus of her research is on the origins and effects of environmental institutions. Her previous research examined the impact of multilateral and bilateral development organizations on water resource management and institution building in the Aral Sea basin in Central Asia. Her research on water politics in conflict regions (e.g. the Gaza Strip in the Middle East) focuses on how the environment might be harnessed for peace building. Her current book project on the resource curse explicates the links between a country’s natural resource base and its institutional capacity through systematically comparing the energy-rich Soviet successor states with other energy-rich developing countries.