Come learn about opportunities for Cornell faculty to conduct joint research with Zhejiang University (ZJU)!

This virtual meetup will include:

a featured presentation on research supported by a 2022 ZJU-Cornell Joint Seed Grant: Improving crop yield through fundamental understanding of the control of size and shape in plants with Adrienne Roeder (Associate Professor, School of Integrative Plant Science Plant Biology Section, Cornell University) and Lilan Hon (Professor, College of Agriculture and Biotechnology, Zhejiang University)

an opportunity for any interested Cornell and ZJU faculty to give a quick lightning introduction to their research interests on the theme of future agriculture and sustainability (3-5 min. max per person) to help researchers at both universities get to meet each other

Q&A about the Cornell-ZJU joint seed fund grant program

This event is part of a dialogue series designed to showcase the collaborative research supported by previous rounds of ZJU-Cornell joint seed grants, to create opportunities for mutual understanding of research interest by scholars in our two universities and exchange of ideas for the preparation for upcoming joint seed grants application, and to build a platform for sharing insights on collaborative research experience, cross-disciplinary thinking, and strategies for seeking impact through research.

Previously funded research related to agriculture and sustainability includes: Crop yield and agricultural production are critical for global food security. Efficient agricultural land use, environmental protection (from unintended consequences caused by the release of engineered materials into the environment during agricultural production), and the enhancement of both crop stress tolerance and adaptation to climate change are important issues to address to support long-term outcomes.

Talk by Tariq Thachil (Political Science, University of Pennsylvania)

Urban citizens in low-income democracies rarely hold elected officials accountable for toxic air. To understand why, we fielded a large citizen survey in Delhi, India, a highly polluted megacity where voters rarely prioritize air pollution at the polls. We find no evidence of conventional explanations for accountability failures: residents are aware of pollution’s adverse impacts, do not privilege development over curbing emissions, and are not fractured along class or ethnic lines on this issue. Instead, we find partisanship and sensitivity to the potential private costs of mitigation policies reduce accountability pressures. On the other hand, a simple randomized intervention (sharing indoor air quality information) that personalizes the costs of air pollution increases its electoral salience. We reveal key opportunities and constraints for mobilizing public opinion to reduce air pollution in developing democracies.

Tariq Thachi is Professor of Political Science, Director of the Center for Advanced Study of India (CASI), and Madan Lal Sobti Professor for the Study of Contemporary India at the University of Pennsylvania. His recent book (coauthored with Adam Auerbach), Migrants and Machine Politics, focuses on the political lives of poor migrants in Indian cities. His first book, Elite Parties, Poor Voters examines how elite parties can use social services to win mass support, through a study of Hindu nationalism in India. He received his PhD in Government from Cornell University in 2009.