The Contributions of Vernon Scarborough in Water Management and Sustainability, Part 1: Global and Comparative

Working in the Maya area and on water and sustainability issues during the last several decades almost certainly includes reading the works of Vernon Scarborough. We are fortunate to gather in this session and comment on Scarborough’s body of research. His work on anything having to do with water management and sustainability has set the stage for some of the most innovative research on these topics. Vern has taken these skill sets to another level, one that is having global implications because of his initiative and ability to accomplish what anthropologists ideally are meant to do—apply our knowledge to global concerns. Vern accomplishes this feat with aplomb via various international and national organizations, including IHOPE Maya, UNESCO, and others. He has been able to reach scholars from other fields, as well as governmental bodies. This relationship is critical as we address living in an increasingly complex world where climate instability continues to increase and people are beginning to look to anthropologists to cull lessons from the past on addressing not only sustainability but climate change. In this session, contributors focus on Vern’s contributions to global aspects of water management and sustainability and how they have impacted their own research.