Elizabeth Kistin

Born and raised in New Mexico, U.S.A., Elizabeth has sought out opportunities to live, work and study in diverse settings across the globe. Her experiences in Costa Rica, Nicaragua, Ecuador, Mexico, Lesotho, Botswana, Namibia and South Africa have all augmented her commitment to poverty reduction, global development and international cooperation. She received her BA in political science and Latin American studies in 2004 from the University of North Carolina – Chapel Hill and earned her Masters in international development studies in 2006 as a Rhodes Scholar at the University of Oxford. Since 2006, Elizabeth has split her time between Oxford and southern Africa and is in the process of finishing her PhD dissertation on “The Dynamic Effects of Transboundary Water Regimes.” In 2008, she took a six-month leave from her studies to work as a field organizer in New Mexico with Barack Obama’s Presidential Campaign.

From 2006 to 2011, Elizabeth was a PhD researcher at the University of Oxford. Working in the Department of International Development Studies, her research focuses on the dynamic effects of inter-state cooperation over transboundary water resources. Her primary focus is on water management and adaptive capacity in southern Africa.

Link:

• An overview of the content and historical context of the international freshwater agreements that South Africa has entered into with neighbouring countries

While at Sauvé House, Elizabeth studied poverty reduction, global development and international cooperation. Her doctoral dissertation focused on “The Dynamic Effects of Transboundary Water Regimes”.