Éanna Crowe

Hi all,

So I departed Dublin Airport early on Wednesday morning. After numerous transfers and many airplane movies I arrived into Hanoi on Friday afternoon. The heat and humidity is definitely something I will have to get used to. One of the first things I noticed even from the plane was the Haze that covers Hanoi and its surrounding areas. It was interesting to see first hand what I will be spending the next few months studying.

As I expected. The city center is a mass of mopeds, business, food and humanity.. especially mopeds. Before I arrived I had convinced myself I would hire a moped to get around but now I think I might have to rethink that decision! We seem to have found a nice apartment which is close to CIAT and close to the city center.

Today is my first day in the office and I have been set up with a desk. I met with Luis Molina who showed me around and we had a brief meeting about the project. Pablo, my supervisor over here, is away for a few days so I believe that when he gets back I will have a clearer idea of what our plans are over the course of the project. For the moment I will do some more research relating to my literature review.

Other than that, I am eager to get settled in and learn about the culture of Vietnam.

Bye for now,

Éanna

Over recent weeks I have begun working on my literature review which will be included in my finished thesis. I have been exploring research and literature related to the subjects my research project will be based on. I have received a rough description of my project and most importantly the title of my project!

Although subject to change, the current title of my project is; “Assessing the potential of Climate Smart Agriculture (CSA) in reducing air pollution in Southeast Asia”. I am rather excited to begin this project and I believe it will tie in nicely with my undergraduate programme, BA Planning, Geography & Environmental Policy. The objective of my project is to assess the potential of improved farm practices implementation, contributing to reduced air pollution in Southeast Asian cities and mitigation of greenhouse gases.

Although this is a rather complex and intricate topic, I believe it will allow me to develop numerous skills that I have been introduced to over the course of the Masters programme.

I thought I would just post an update of my progress and get started on what is sure to be an interesting and informative blog. Anyway, I must get back to work. I’ll be sure to post again soon!

Éanna

I am currently navigating my way around the catacombs of wordpress, trying to customize the page so that its aesthetic enough that you’ll stay and read a little bit (or maybe even add the page to your bookmarks).

At the moment I’m about to finish up lectures in Galway. Then comes a month of reading, preparation, revision and anticipation. I will be in Vietnam for 2~3 months, collecting data, conducting research, learning about the culture and lifestyle, and eating large amounts of Pho (I’m not complaining).

My posts will hopefully be a little longer and a little more interesting from now on but I thought I’d just christen the page with a stream of consciousness from Áras de Brún in lovely Galway. (Don’t get your hopes up about how interesting it might be).