EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
This report details in brief the activities and achievements of the Focused Research Group in International Environmental Cooperation (FRGinIEC), an organization revived in 2009 and funded by the Center for Research in International and Global Studies (RIGS).

The FRGinIEC will be meeting every other Tuesday throughout the summer. At each meeting, one group member will coordinate a presentation or lead a discussion related to his or her own research interests. Meeting schedule is as follows:

6-23   Alexis
7-7    Francesca
7-21  Josh
8-4    JT
8/18  Beth
9/1    Kristen
9/15  Jared

For more information about any meeting, please see the events calendar.

The last meeting of the Focused Research Group in International Environmental Cooperation will be held on Tuesday, May 26, 2009, in Social Ecology I room 306. We will be reflecting on the past year and planning for next year. Lunch will be provided by Veggie Grill.

FRGinIEC member Francesca Hopkins is featured on the UCI main page for educational outreach related to climate change as part of her participation in CLEAN Education. See the press release here:

http://www.uci.edu/uci/features/feature_cleaneducation_090519.php

Brahmbhatt & Christiaensen. 2008. "Rising Food Prices in East Asia: Challenges and Policy Options." World Bank Report.

http://siteresources.worldbank.org/EASTASIAPACIFICEXT/Resources/EA_Risin...

Naylor, et. al. 2007. "The Ripple Effect: Biofuels, Food Security, and the Environment." Environment 49(9): 30-43.

http://iis-db.stanford.edu/pubs/22064/Naylor_et_al_Env.pdf

Fargione, et. al. 2008. "Land Clearing and the Biofuel Carbon Debt." Science 319: 1235-1238.

http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/full/319/5867/1235

The next meeting of the FRGinIEC will feature a discussion about recent scholarship on land use and biofuels, led by Alexis Hickman. You can find the articles that we will be discussing linked in the post above this one, or on the Research page. Lunch will be served.

The University of California, Santa Cruz Summer Session is pleased to announce the first Santa Cruz Summer Sustainability Institute (SSI), a program of courses, discussions and possible internships designed to introduce students to the concepts and practices of social and ecological sustainability, and to allow them to pursue selected subjects in greater depth.

This is a second call for participation in the Greening XVIII
Conference, to be held on Saturday, April18, 2009, at California State
University, Northridge.

To close out the quarter, this meeting will feature discussion of a paper co-authored by Professor Joseph DiMento, "Climate Law and Policy in North America; Non-Hierarchical Perspectives and Implications for Developing Countries." As always, food and beverages will be provided.

The newly published review of Institutions and Environmental Change: Principal Findings, Applications, and Research Frontiers in the journal International Environmental Agreements can be found here:

http://www.springerlink.com/content/6km58847742x0138/fulltext.html