 |
Grainne RyderField Work CoordinatorContact Information: Phone: + I-519-885-1460 ext. 201 Office: St. Paul's University College E-mail : gryder(at)uwaterloo.ca |
As field placement coordinator for the International Development Program, Grainne works with our partner organization, the World University Service of Canada, to develop high-quality field placements and prepare students for a challenging cross-cultural and professional experience in Africa, Asia, and Latin America.
Before joining INDEV, Grainne spent over 20 years working with non-governmental environmental organizations (NGOs) in Canada, the United States and developing countries. She initiated and directed a 10-year program of energy policy analysis, training and advocacy for Bangkok-based Foundation for Ecological Recovery and Toronto-based Probe International. Aimed at strengthening participation of citizens groups and riverside communities in decision-making related to large-scale hydro development, Grainne’s work was funded by Rockefeller Brothers Fund, Open Society Institute, and Oxfam America, among others.
As policy director of Probe International, Grainne advocated for alternatives to large-scale energy projects that displace large numbers of communities and destroy ecosystems. She prepared submissions to Canadian decision-makers as well as the United States Environmental Protection Agency, the World Bank, and the UN-funded World Commission on Dams. From 1990 to 1995 she was the program coordinator for the Bangkok-based group TERRA (Towards Ecological Recovery and Regional Alliance), which established the first regional network of citizens defending their right to decide the fate of their rivers.
Grainne is a founding member of the global Save the Mekong Coalition [www.savethemekong.org] and has led public reviews of environmental impact assessments for several Mekong hydropower projects. Most recently, she wrote a guide for the NGO Forum on Cambodia entitled Powering 21st Century Cambodia: Rethinking Cambodia’s Energy Future. [www.ngoforum.org.kh]
Grainne has written for many publications, including Watershed: People’s Forum on Ecology Burma, Cambodia, Laos, Thailand and Vietnam (1995-2008) [www.terraper.org] the Nordic aid monitor Development Today, [www.development-today.com] Bangkok Post (Thailand), Energy Pulse, [www.energypulse.net], and National Post. She has edited two books, including Damming the Three Gorges: What Dam Builders Don’t Want You To Know (Earthscan, Canada 1993) and The Mekong Currency: Lives and Times of a River (International Books, Netherlands 1993).
Grainne obtained her Masters in Environmental Studies from York University in 1996 and completed her Bachelor of Science in Water Resources Engineering at Guelph University in 1983. She was a CUSO water supply engineer in Thailand from 1983 to 1986.
