Burdick Global Scholars Program 2023

CREW is collaborating with colleagues and students at UCSB and in Chile as part of the project:

“A Climate Change Constitution? Exploring environmental implications of constitutional reform in Chile.”

This is the focus of the Burdick Global Scholars Program 2023.

The Burdick Global Scholars Program supports undergraduate students who want to participate in research abroad. In 2023 the program will take a group of 6 students for 3 weeks to Santiago, Chile, led by Professors Javiera Barandiaran (Global Studies, UCSB), Tristan Partridge (Global Studies, UCSB) and Maite Salazar (Environmental Studies, Universidad Católica de Chile), to conduct research in rural communities grappling with the impacts of climate change near the capital, Santiago.

These impacts include prolonged drought, glacier loss, and rising temperatures. In 2022, Chilean voters rejected a new constitution that would have introduced substantial changes to environmental law and policy. This project asks, what if anything remains of the forward-thinking spirit of the new constitution in these rural communities? How are residents confronting industrial projects and changing economic opportunities in light of climate change and failed constitutional reform? What alliances exist between these rural communities and outsiders, including environmental scientists, activists, and government officials, and how do these shape responses to climate change-induced challenges?

"Can I drink lithium? Can I eat copper? Protect the land!" / modified sign outside San Pedro de Atacama, Chile. Photo by Tristan Partridge.

Encuentro internacional estudiantil reúne a estudiantes en torno a los desafíos socio-ambientales de Chile

Click the link above to read a report on our Burdick students' presentations at this event in Santiago on 12 July 2023 -- "An international student conference: Environmental challenges in Chile" -- organized by the Centro de Investigación en Tecnologías para la Sociedad (C+) in the Engineering Department at the Universidad de Desarrollo.

Group photo: "El encuentro internacional estudiantil: Desafíos Medioambientales en Chile" organizado por el Centro de Investigación en Tecnologías para la Sociedad (C+) de la Facultad de Ingeniería. Source: UDD.

To care for each other and for the Earth: An interview with Elisa Loncón

Members of CREW and the Burdick Global Scholars Program team interviewed Elisa Loncón during her visit to UCSB in April 2023. Click the link above to read our edited transcript.

Elisa Loncón and Javiera Barandiarán. UCSB, April 2023.