Student view: Exploring the effects of climate change in India

April 30, 2024 - Truman Forbes

Truman Forbes graduated in the spring of 2024 with a degree in comparative cultures and politics in James Madison College, and environmental studies and sustainability in the College of Agriculture and Natural Resources. Forbes received the prestigious MSU Board of Trustees Award of maintaining a 4.0 GPA throughout his academic studies.

The following student view is repurposed (with permission) from a post on LinkedIn.

 

For this year’s spring break, I had the incredible opportunity to travel to West Bengal, India, and research climate change impacts on rural agricultural livelihoods in the region. From February 25 to March 8, I conducted fieldwork in various villages and spoke with women and men in the area who were being impacted by climate change.

Speaking with community members in focus groups, interviews and informal interactions was life-changing. Generally, some of the main issues included increased cyclones, flooding, salinization of soil, shifting of the monsoon season, destruction of high-value crops and fish, and shifting sea migration of fish populations. 

These changes led to the out-migration of men to urban areas and other states to pursue better opportunities, the feminization of agriculture due to the out-migration of men, and increased production costs. There was clear evidence of unequal distribution of these burdens because of location, gender, and political tensions with the central government preventing public investment and aid. Despite their proximity, each village and community had its specific nuances, demonstrating how everyone was being impacted differently by climate change.

This experience would not have been possible without working with my wonderful and impressive Professor Sejuti Das Gupta at Michigan State University James Madison College. Based on prior research, we set to work obtaining funding to conduct an in-person pilot study. We were able to obtain funding from the Kapur Endowed Scholarship and the Koo Global Student Scholarship. Without their support, this opportunity and learning experience would not have been possible.

Additionally, during my two weeks in India, I had no other students or professors with me, pushing me out of my comfort zone (to say the least). Thankfully, I was accompanied by the amazing researcher, Chandrani Dutta, who works in Kolkata and became my fieldwork guide, translator and mentor.

I spent so much time with Dr. Dutta who taught me a very important lesson that every field researcher and future global development leader should know: Listening is the most important skill to have because they have more to teach you than you have to teach them.

I also drew from my work with PRIA India where I recently earned a certificate in Participatory Research. Through this program, I learned how to effectively and holistically engage with global communities to create mutually beneficial relationships rather than solely extracting information. 

Moving forward, Professor Das Gupta is already pursuing more research funding to conduct a formal study in West Bengal and send another student next spring break. I feel incredibly honored and lucky that the pilot study I conducted is being used as the basis for future research.