Organizer: Stimson Center, Sustainable Infrastructure Partnership at Pact and supported by the Mekong –US Partnership.
Join Courtney Weatherby, Apisom Intralawan, David Wood, and Pinida Leelapanang Kamphaengthong for a discussion on how the Mekong Region can meet rapidly rising electricity demand without compromising environmental, social, and economic while coping with the impacts of climate change and the COVID-19 pandemic. This discussion draws on two recent studies which explore power needs across the Mekong region and discuss gaps and opportunities in light of disruptions from the pandemic, drought, and new technologies.
This discussion launches two studies funded by the Mekong –US Partnership and Sustainable Infrastructure Partnership (SIP): Lower Mekong Power Developments: Drought, Renewable Disruptions, & Electricity Trade and Economic and Environmental Assessment of Lower Mekong Countries Power Development Plans.
Welcoming Remarks
Christy Owen, Country Director for Pact Thailand Christy Owen is an accomplished program manager with 20 years of experience managing and developing donor assistance programs focused on private sector engagement, sustainable finance, climate change, environmental governance and civil society capacity building. Since 2011, she has been based in Bangkok, leading regional programs across six Southeast Asian countries. Her full bio is here.
Thomas M. Schmidt, Director of the Regional Environment, Science, Technology, and Health Office for the East & Southeast Asia Hub, U.S. Embassy Bangkok
Bio information to come.
Discussant Remarks
Apisom Intralawan, Mae Fah Luang University, Thailand Dr. Apisom Intralawan is an interdisciplinary researcher and a lecturer of Ecological Economics, School of Management, Mae Fah Luang University, Chiang Rai, Thailand. His work focuses on ecosystem service valuation, economic assessment, water-energy-food nexus tradeoffs in the Lower Mekong Basin, and capacity building for riparian communities to increase resilience and adaptation to hydropower development impacts and climate change. He received his PhD in Natural Resources from University of Vermont, USA. He holds a M.Eng (Industrial and Management) and a M.Sc (Ecological Economics) from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, USA. He received his B. Eng in industrial engineering from Kasetsart University.
David Wood, Mae Fah Luang University, Thailand David Wood has extensive global experience (working in Holland, Russia, Singapore, Thailand, UK and USA) in the oil business and biofuels. He was employed by Shell for over 30 years in business management, project management and manufacturing. Since leaving Shell, he worked as a consultant for commercial biofuel projects, as a lecturer (Business Management) at Mae Fah Luang University and in research teams on Mekong hydropower and regional power plans. He holds a B.A. in Natural Sciences and a M.A. in Chemical Engineering from Cambridge University, England.
Courtney Weatherby, Deputy Director for Southeast Asia Program, The Stimson Center Courtney Weatherby is Deputy Director of the Stimson Center’s Southeast Asia Program. Her research focuses on sustainable infrastructure and energy development challenges in Southeast Asia and the Indo-Pacific, particularly food-water-energy nexus issues in the Greater Mekong Subregion. She served as a US-Japan- Southeast Asia Fellow at the East-West Center in Washington in early 2019. Before joining Stimson, Weatherby worked briefly with CSIS, the State Department, and Human Rights Watch. Her full bio is available here.
Pinida Leelapanang Kamphaengthong, Program Manager for Sustainable Infrastructure Partnership, Pact Thailand Pinida has over 15 years’ experience of providing technical support for water quality management to policy makers of the Lower Mekong countries. She previously worked as an environmental specialist at Thailand’s Pollution Control Department, focusing on freshwater issues and water quality modeling. At SIP, she continues to support Lower Mekong countries by matching technical assistance from the US Government and other development partners with needs in the region. Her full bio is available here.
Rafael Schmitt, Senior Scientist at the Natural Capital Project, Stanford University
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