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Megan Dear and Elizabeth Kroger spent time as Master of Environmental Management students working with the Duke Bass Connections team "Evaluating Impacts of Debt-for-Nature Swaps on Debt, Climate and Biodiversity." Dear and Kroger both concentrated in Coastal and Marine Systems and Community 糖心传媒ment and Environmental Justice.
project teams bring together faculty and students from across Duke, along with external partners, to tackle complex societal challenges.
Duke Environment recently caught up with Dear and Kroger to learn more about their experience.
Briefly Describe your project
Debt-for-nature swaps have emerged as a 鈥渨in-win鈥 solution to reduce sovereign debt and achieve ocean protection. However, there remains a limited understanding of how the benefits and burdens of these conservation obligations are shared among stakeholders.
Our research aims to understand how key members of the government, fisheries, ecotourism, and conservation sectors of Belize and the Gal谩pagos perceive the equity of conservation activities which have resulted from swaps.
We are identifying the measures and conditions that enable or inhibit participation in decision-making, recognition of rights, and a fair distribution of costs and benefits, to produce recommendations for the government departments implementing these conservation commitments.
What excited you the most about taking part in a Bass Connections Project this year?
Kroger: This Bass Connections [project] grew out of an informal working group I was in last year that explored the financial mechanism and conservation impacts of debt-for-nature swaps. After spending the summer at the Environmental Defense Fund working on projects tied to swaps in Belize and the Bahamas, I was excited to continue the work with a deeper understanding.
My colleagues in Belize had emphasized the concerns raised by local communities about fair participation in decisions, so I was enthusiastic to pursue a project assessing these equity issues with the goal of providing implementing agencies with structured data and recommendations.
Dear: I had heard fantastic things about this working group from my friends, and when it turned into a Bass Connections [project], I knew I wanted to be a part of it because of the opportunity to immerse myself in something new and potentially have an impact on the future of multilateral conservation deals.
This project was really exciting because I knew I was going to build stakeholder engagement and conflict resolution skills when meeting with key communities and leaders, two of my goals for this master鈥檚 program.
How has participating in your Bass Connections team shaped your time at Duke? Has it impacted your future career directions?
Kroger: Participating in Bass Connections introduced me to the world of conservation finance. My background is in conservation biology, working internationally with small, community-based nonprofits where impact was limited by funding and capacity. Through Bass Connections, I learned how large-scale conservation finance can be improved to support positive social and ecological outcomes at the community level.
This research shaped my perspective on how to best include fishers in coastal management decisions and fairly distribute the costs and benefits of conservation. After I graduate, I hope to continue working in conservation finance to facilitate multinational collaboration, build capacity for coastal communities, and encourage stakeholder participation in conservation decisions.
Dear: This Bass Connections was one of the best decisions I made at Duke. Similarly to Elizabeth, this project was my first experience in the conservation financing space. My background is in coral reef microbiology and climate-resilient restoration, which has become an emerging focus for marine financing mechanisms, which made this project even more fascinating as it broadened my understanding of how these coastal ecosystems can play a role in global financial systems.
I am hoping to bring these new understandings to funders and decision makers to support more equitable decisions at the beginning of the process.
What advice would you give to students considering a Bass Connections Project or currently in the program?
Kroger: If your project evaluates a conservation policy or initiative, I recommend building relationships with the government agencies or NGOs implementing the work. These connections can help you better understand the context, ensure the research is constructive and relevant, and help your findings reach the people who can translate them into policy.
Dear: I highly recommend doing a Bass Connections project because it is a unique experience that allows you to gain transferable and marketable skills while also building strong relationships with professors and staff. One piece of advice is to do research on the potential projects that you are interested in.
I think one of the reasons Elizabeth and I were so successful in our work was because of the incredible leadership on our that enabled us to hit the ground running in August. If you are curious about Bass Connections, I recommend reaching out to current students to make sure it is the right fit and will result in a productive year for you.
