Examining Well-being and Vulnerability in Data-Poor Nations: Azerbaijan and Kyrgyzstan

Abstract

To investigate the complex human-environmental systems in the Eurasian low- and middle-income countries of Azerbaijan and Kyrgyzstan, I apply both qualitative and quantitative methods to four different topics: (1) creating a Toxic Site Identification Program dataset, (2) integrating indigenous knowledge and geospatial analyses, (3) designing a model to reduce toxic hazards from inland bodies of water, and (4) forecasting repeated ethnic conflict through the lens of human-environmental challenges from climate, migration, and conflict. I address research gaps in understudied and data-poor LMICs by generating new datasets and models to address human-environmental problems.