Dear All,

I am pleased to announce the winning project team of the Lemelson Award for Innovative Digital Projects in Social Research.

Money Grows on Trees: Carbon Markets and Mangroves in West Africa

Team Members: Judith Carney (UCLA Department of Geography), Ashley Fent (UCLA Department of Geography), Rémi Bardou (UCLA Department of Geography), Christie Ford (UCLA Department of Geography/Environmental Studies), Robert Burns (UCLA Department of Geography)

This award will fund the creation of a short film, to be made available through Vimeo, Youtube and other websites, which will trace the history of mangrove loss and regrowth, the entry of mangroves into circuits of capitalism and market-based conservation, and the social and ecological impacts of reforestation efforts in Senegal and The Gambia.  Information on the video and any potential planned viewing events during 2016-17 will be updated here throughout the year:

http://socialsciences.ucla.edu/the-lemelson-award

Last year, the award went to the project Young Workers Animated for Change, an animated video that will publicize the findings of a survey on wage earners aged 18-29 in Los Angeles.

Congratulations to the winning team and many thanks to the other teams of faculty and students who participated in the competition. The review committee was very impressed by the originality and potential relevance of all the projects that were submitted for the award.

Finally, let me renew my sincere thanks to Dr. Robert Lemelson and the Robert Lemelson Foundation for providing the funds that made this award possible.

Sincerely,

Alessandro Duranti