Zaitchik researches climate vulnerability

Benjamin Zaitchik, a professor in the Global Environmental Change and Sustainability (GECS) department, focuses his teaching and research on dealing with the consequences of climate change.

“Most of my research is on climate vulnerability and resilience,” Zaitchik said. “So that means climate change, but also seasonal forecasting and being able to cope with stresses and shocks to agricultural and health systems.”

At Hopkins, he teaches many upper level classes. Each year, he teaches a course called Present and Future Climate for undergraduate seniors and graduate students. The course is a survey of how climate systems work.

Some of his courses combine environmental and policy studies. He co-teaches a course called Climate Science and Policy, which is a larger survey course and attracts all sorts of undergraduate students. Next semester, he will be teaching a course at the School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS) that will focus on food, energy and water.

His interest in the environment started many years ago, when he was growing up in the 1980s. He witnessed events like the 1983-1985 Ethiopian famine, among other global environmental crises. These events exposed him to issues of sustainability regarding water, food, health and the environment.

His interest in environmental studies developed over time. In high school, Zaitchik worked with plants and landscaping, and he graduated from Harvard University with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Biology.

“So then, from there, one thing led to the next,” Zaitchik said. “After undergrad, I lived for a year in the Negev desert in Israel doing desert ecology research.”

The program he attended in Israel was associated with an Israeli university and is widely regarded as one of the best places in the world to study both ancient and modern desert agriculture. Not only was he attracted to the program, but he was also excited about the opportunity to be in the Middle East.

Before going to Israel, Zaitchik had largely been interested in doing work outside and in greenhouses. After working in Israel, some of his views changed.

“When I got there, I got really interested in how the broader environment is a system, and how things like deserts or stressful environments in general, influence plants and really influence communities and people as well,” Zaitchik said. “It was also a global experience because a lot of people, especially from East Africa, India [and] Western China, come to that place to get trained in desert management, so that was a really great experience for me.”

Zaitchik received his masters from Cornell University and earned his Ph.D. from Yale University. He worked at the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) center in Greenville, Md. while studying the use of satellite data and climate models to address water resource issues. He then worked on a fellowship as a foreign affairs officer for the Department of State.

As Zaitchik’s work developed, he did some work with the United Nations. He received some of these opportunities through previous experiences.

“Through that work and then through the relations I’ve got through those projects that I either applied for or joined in on, I think you end up just meeting people and developing a reputation,” Zaitchik said. “It’s a small world of people thinking about water, climate and sustainability. Once you’re doing something over there, you tend to find other parts and get involved.”

Some of his work with the U.N. was related to his previous experiences.

“For the State Department, I was doing international climate negotiations, and that’s the U.N. forum,” Zaitchik said. “I did a lot of negotiations within the U.N.”

Zaitchik is still currently involved with U.N.-related research.

“We have one project that is sponsored by the Food and Agricultural Organization of the United Nations (FAO), and that project is looking at water resource development in the Tigris-Euphrates Basin,” Zaitchik said. “And so that’s the one thing directly with the U.N. that we’re doing. Then there’s other things where I interact with the U.N. We have other kinds of related projects in East Africa, the Nile Basin [and] South Asia that all have U.N. peripheral partners — UNESCO, etc. — but nothing directly in the U.N.”

Several of the projects in which Zaitchik is involved are located across the country and world, and they resultantly often include frequent travel. His research has taken him to places like Syria and Morocco.

“It used to be a lot, and I have a kid now, so I try to travel a little less,” Zaitchik said. “I’ll go to Ethiopia a couple times a year, occasionally stop in another country in East Africa while I’m there. We have North Africa and Middle East Research.”