Tamar Law

Tamar is a local Ithacan and a PhD student in Development Studies in the Department of Global Development at Cornell. She is interested in soils, capitalist natures, the role of technoscience in climate management, and critical development studies. Tamar’s research stems from longstanding interest in nature-society relations, starting as an undergraduate College Scholar at Cornell University, to receiving a MPhil in Human Environmental Geography from the University of Oxford. Her MPhil thesis examined the growing enrollment of agricultural soil as a climate solution, leading to her doctoral work on the global politics of climate sinks. Drawing from feminist political ecology, post-colonial science studies, and critical agrarian studies, Tamar’s dissertation project focuses on emerging blue carbon governance and low-carbon development in Indonesia. Her work examines the financial and scientific practices of coastal restoration, seeking to understand how mangrove coastlines become global carbon sinks. Tamar’s work is driven by her deep commitment to climate justice, through her work she aims to delineate equitable mitigation pathways, centering how climate management impacts local frontline communities. She was awarded the RANA Prize at Cornell in 2022. At Cornell, Tamar is the graduate co-chair to the Southeast Asia Program, organizes the Critical Soil Studies working group, and plans the Critical Development Seminar series. Tamar works with Jenny Goldstein (chair), Wendy Wolford, and Sarah Besky. Tamar loves to bake pies, accumulate new houseplants, and experiment with clay.