Grant Category:	Fulbright-Nehru Student Research Program
Field of Specialization:	Environmental Studies
Name:	Ms. Alexandra Mouche
Official Address:	Cornell University, Ithaca, New York
Indian Host Institution:	Institute of Rural Management, Anand, Gujarat
Duration of Grant & Start Date :	Duration: 9 months August 2011

Brief Bio:

Ms. Alexandra Mouche graduated with honors from Cornell University with a B.A. in China and Asia Pacific Studies. She has spent most of her time abroad in China both in high school and college and is proficient in Mandarin Chinese. She has interned at the U.S. Foreign Commercial service at the US embassy in Beijing China, the George Gund Foundation in Cleveland, Ohio, the US-Asia Institute in Washington, DC, the JUMP Foundation in Beijing, and the Middlebury-Monterey Language Academy. While at Cornell, Allie was a member of the Cornell Nordic Club Ski team and participated in races around the east coast. She recently completed an honors thesis titled as "Innovation and the Rise of National Economies: The Case of China." Groundwater depletion is one of the greatest challenges for the drought prone Gujarati farms in western India. The success of the grassroots groundwater recharge/rainwater harvest movement initiated by Gujarati farmers for sustainable irrigation resulted in major economic and ecological impacts. It is interesting because the spiritual and ethics-based rationale energizing this movement is not commonly seen as a motivating factor for sustainable growth. As Fulbright-Nehru scholar Alexandra will complement the movement's scientific studies with individual stories from people at the core of the technical studies at the Institute of Rural Management Anand (IRMA) with Dr. Tushaar Shah.