Alumna
Alumna
I am a political ecologist studying conservation and development in Madagascar, with a specific focus on the country’s trade in natural resources with China. My research is based on ethnographic fieldwork conducted in Madagascar and China, as well as time spent working for the United Nations Environment Programme in Geneva, Switzerland and the United States Peace Corps in Madagascar. I also have nearly a decade of consulting experience managing environmental impact statements for large government projects in the United States, and have begun to apply this work to the study of environmental impact assessment in China. In general, my research contributes to debates on Chinese resource investments in Africa, as well as the impact of "global China" on the environment.
University of California, Berkeley, Ph.D., expected December 2018
Duke University, Master of Environmental Management, 2008
Reed College, Bachelor of Science in Biology, 2006
political ecology, critical theory, global environmental governance, international conservation and development, deforestation in the tropics, resource extraction
Zhu, A. 2018. Hot money, cold beer: Navigating the vanilla and rosewood export economies in northeastern Madagascar. American Ethnologist 45(2): 253-267.
Zhu, A. 2017. Rosewood Occidentalism and Orientalism in Madagascar. Geoforum 86: 1-12.
Bai, R., X. Liu, X. Liu, X, L. Liu, J. Wang, S. Liao, A. Zhu, Z. Li. 2017. The development of biodiversity conservation measures in China’s hydro projects: A review. Environment International 108: 285-298.
Liu, S., Y. Yin, X. Liu, F. Cheng, J. Yang, J. Li, S. Dong, A. Zhu. 2016. Evaluation of changes in ecosystem services related to landscape pattern and connectivity after plantation expansion in a tropical rainforest region in Southwest China. Ecological Modeling 353: 129-138.
Liu, X., Z. Li, C. Liao, Q. Wang, A. Zhu, D. Li, Y. Li, and Z. Tang. 2015. The Development of Ecological Impact Assessment in China. Environment International 85:46-53.
Peterson, A., Gallagher, L., Huberman, D., Mulder, I. 2012. Seeing REDD: Conserving Biodiversity and Reducing Emissions by Avoiding Deforestation. Journal of Sustainable Forestry 31(1-2): 29-58.
Peterson, A., Hill, C., Gallagher, L. 2011. Chapter 13: International Biodiversity Offsets. In: T. Koellner (ed.) Ecosystem Services and Global Trade of Natural Resources: Ecology, Economics and Policies. Routledge, Oxon, UK.
Peterson, A. 2008. Africa's Silk Road: China and India's New Economic Frontier, by Harry Broadman (Review). Africa Today 54(4): 91-93.
Berkeley Fellowship for Graduate Study, 2013 – 2018, Five years of financial support awarded to the top 4% of admitted doctoral students.
Center for Chinese Studies Dissertation Writing Fellowship, 2017, Financial support for dissertation writing in Chinese studies
Center for African Studies Dissertation Research Fellowship, 2015, Financial support for dissertation research in Madagascar.
Center for African Studies Pre-Dissertation Research Fellowship, 2014, Financial support for pre-dissertation research in Madagascar.
Duke Nicholas School Fellowship for Masters Study, 2006 – 2008, Two years of financial support awarded to masters students demonstrating outstanding academic ability and a high degree of professional promise.
Reed College Commendation for Excellence in Scholarship, 2006, Divisional achievement awarded for outstanding academic performance.
Political Ecology, International Environmental Politics
Presentations:
Zhu, A., Late Capitalism in Rural Madagascar: Hot money, cold beer, and the tactics of time-space compression. Presented at the the Association of American Geographers Annual Meeting, New Orleans, LA, April 10-14, 2018.
Zhu, A., Everyday life in the Political Forests of Madagascar. Presented at the the Association of American Geographers Annual Meeting, San Francisco, CA, March 30-April 2, 2016.
Zhu, A., Chinese Investment in Africa: An Environmental Perspective. Research presented at the Panel Discussion of the University of California – Berkeley, Center for Chinese Studies, Berkeley, CA, November 10, 2015.
Peterson, A., A Cultural Fix: Social Space According to Capital. Paper presented at the 76th Annual Meeting of the Association of Pacific Coast Geographers, Lake Tahoe, CA, September 25-28, 2013.
Peterson, A., Biodiversity and REDD in the Private Sector, presented at the REDD and Biodiversity Benefits Workshop, hosted by Conservation International and UNEP World Conservation Monitoring Centre, Washington, DC, August 6-8, 2008.
Peterson, A., Gallagher, L., Huberman, D., Mulder, I. Seeing REDD: Conserving Biodiversity and Reducing Emissions by Avoiding Deforestation. Paper presented at the 15th Annual conference of the International Society for Tropical Foresters, Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Studies, New Haven, CT, March, 28-29, 2008.
Peterson, A., Hill, C., Gallagher, L. Balancing Biodiversity: A Global Instrument for Meeting the 2010 Biodiversity Target. Paper presented at the International Advisory Committee Meeting of the Business and Biodiversity Offset Program (BBOP), Rome, Italy, February 20-22, 2008.
Peterson, A., Gallagher, L., Huberman, D., Mulder, I. Seeing REDD: Conserving Biodiversity and Reducing Emissions by Avoiding Deforestation. Paper presented at the 9th Annual Biodiversity in Economics (BIECON) Conference on “Economics and Institutions for Biodiversity Conservation,” Kings College, Cambridge, UK, September, 19-21, 2007.
