Saleh Ahmed

Assistant Professor, Interdisciplinary Programs (Environmental Studies, Global Studies, & Urban Studies)
School of Public Service
E-mail: salehahmed@boisestate.edu
Phone: (208) 426-2514

Environmental Research Building (ERB # 3145)
Boise State University
1910 University Drive
Boise, ID 83725-1935

As an interdisciplinary environmental social scientist, Dr. Ahmed’s research focuses on human dimensions of global environmental change. His current projects include work on climate justice, equitable resilience, sustainability-peace nexus, and risk-informed decision-making in coastal communities. Ahmed is an Assistant Professor of Environmental Studies, Global Studies, and Urban Studies in the School of Public Service at Boise State University.

He received an interdisciplinary Ph.D. in Arid Lands Resource Sciences with a minor in Global Change from the University of Arizona, where he also has a Graduate Certificate in Science Communication. Ahmed’s previous degrees are on Environmental Sociology (Utah State University), Regional Science (Karlsruhe Institute of Technology), Spatial Planning (KTH–The Royal Institute of Technology) and Urban and Rural Planning (Khulna University).

Research Interests

• Land and climate justice among ethnic, racial, and Indigenous populations
• Social vulnerability, inclusive adaptation, and equitable resilience
• Sustainability transitions, and climate resilient development pathways
• Human Rights, Refugee Crisis, and Emergency Response
• United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (UNSDGs)

Publications (Selected)

• Bellamy, K., Garcia, V., Ahmed, S. and A. Archila. (2023). Ethnic difference at the center of land struggles of Garifuna in northern Honduras: A complex territory of history, marginalization, and economy. Journal of Poverty. DOI: 10.1080/10875549.2023.2173702.
• Ahmed, S., and Liquin, P. (2023). Impacts of hydropower dams on ethnic minorities in the Global South: Lessons from northern Laos. Environmental Development 46: 100864. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envdev.2023.100864.
• Ahmed, S., Eklund, E., and Kiester, E. (2022). Adaptation outcomes in climate vulnerable locations: Understanding how short-term climate actions exacerbated existing gender inequities in coastal Bangladesh. Journal of Environmental Planning and Management. 10.1080/09640568.2022.2082928.
• Ahmed, S. and Eklund, E. (2021). Climate Change Impacts in Coastal Bangladesh: Migration, Gender and Environmental Injustice. Asian Affairs 52(1): 155-174.
• Ahmed, S., Simmons, W., Chowdhury, R. and Huq, S. (2021). Sustainability-Peace Nexus in Crisis Contexts: How Rohingyas Escaped the Ethnic Violence in Myanmar, but Trapped into Environmental Challenges in Bangladesh? Sustainability Science 16: 1201-1213.

Public Scholarship (Selected)

• Climate change impacts in Bangladesh show how geography, wealth and culture affect vulnerability
• Coronavirus closes in on Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh’s cramped, unprepared camps
• Rohingya Refugees and Bangladesh’s Infamous Monsoon: A Story of Survival
• Pandemic insights from Bangladesh: A country in crisis

Awards, Grants, and Fellowships (Selected)

• The Office of Undergraduate Research’s Mentor of the Year Award 2023, Boise State University, Boise, ID, 2023.
• Commitment to Research Award 2021–2022, School of Public Service, Boise State University, Boise, ID, 2022.
• Science Communication Fellow, AGU Voices for Science Program (Communications/Media Track), American Geophysical Union, Washington, D.C., 2020.
• World Social Science Fellow, International Social Science Council, Paris, France, 2015.

Current Projects (Selected)

• Social Science Research Council (SSRC)/Andrew W. Mellon Foundation Transregional Collaborative Research Grant (2021-2023): Climate Change and Inequality in a Divided World: Race and Ethnicity as the Determinants of Racialized Coastal Experiences in the Indian Ocean Region. Role: Co-PI.
• Social Science Research Council (SSRC)/Henry Luce Foundation Grant for Collaborative Research on Asia (2022-2023): Land and Climate Justice at the Center of Rohingya Crisis in Myanmar. Role: PI.
• Boise State University. Humanities and Social Sciences Initiative Collaborative proposal (2023). Speaking with the Rohingyas. Role: Co-PI.
• The 100K Strong in the Americas Innovation Fund (Partners of the Americas and the Bureau of Western Hemisphere Affairs of the U.S. Department of State) (2023): Closing the Gender-Gap in the Americas: New Methodologies and Curriculum for Action-Research and Social Change. Boise State University (USA), Universidad Cientifica del Sur (Peru), and Universidad Tecnológica Privada de Santa Cruz de la Sierra (Bolivia). Role: Boise State Faculty Lead.

Courses (Selected)

• PUBADM 552: Environmental Communication and Decision-Making
• ENVSTD 470: Climate Change, Social Justice, and Commonwealth
• ENVSTD 498: Seminar in Environmental Studies (Evaluating Sustainable Development Goals)
• GLOBAL 302: Social and Political Change in the Global South

Ongoing Research Students (Selected)

• Daniel S. Amoruso, Ph.D. Public Policy and Administration, “An Exploration of Refugee Policy using Narrative Policy and Social Construction Frameworks: A Comparative Study between Boise, Idaho and Minneapolis, Minnesota,” (Dissertation Committee Member), 2021–2024.
• Sabrina Akther, Ph.D. Geoscience, “Humanizing Flood and Other Hazard Data for Use in Local Resilience Planning,” (Dissertation Committee Member), 2023–2027.
• Omme Habiba, MA Political Science, “Environmental inequality in the Indian Ocean Region,” (Research Supervisor), 2023–2024.
• Kaitlyn Bellamy, B.A. Global Studies, “Race” at the center of contested landscape of disaster recovery in northern Honduras: Struggles of Afro-Indigenous Garifuna after the Hurricanes Eta and Iota,” (Research Mentor), 2021–2024.

Professional Memberships (Selected)

• Member, American Association of Geographers
• Member, International Studies Association
• Member, Association for Asian Studies
• Member, Bangladesh Institute of Planners