Swathi Veeravalli

Lead Strategic Integration Officer
US Army Corps of Engineers
United States

Sep 25, 2018

Swathi Veeravalli is an interdisciplinary research scientist and practitioner working at the intersection of climate change, water resource management, and peacebuilding. She currently works as Lead Strategic Integration Officer at the US Army Corps of Engineers. She previously worked as a research scientist in the Geospatial Research Laboratory, Engineer Research and Development Center, US Army Corps of Engineers. Her interest in water policy and international development was sparked by her experiences growing up in Botswana during a severe drought. She went on to earn her B.A. from George Washington University in International Relations with a focus in African politics and her M.Sc. from Oxford University in Water Science, Policy, and Management. She has also held positions as a Water Analyst for Global Water Intelligence and as Peacebuilding and Conflict Advisor to the US Agency for International Development. Her research on water governance, climate security, and climate resiliency has been published in various peer-reviewed journals and edited volumes.

Swathi’s work focuses on the ways in which military and civilian engagement can collaboratively address issues of climate change, water security, and food security, and enhance capacity to respond to environmental security and climate security threats. In her research position with the US Army Corps, she has investigated how military attempts at conflict resolution can help to strengthen government action on environmental issues. Partnering with the US Army Africa Command, she engaged with experts across fields to conduct climate security programs in military-military and civilian-military exchanges in African countries, and increase cooperation to minimize climate change impacts on food and water security. In this way, Swathi’s work interrogates how environmental cooperation can help to facilitate and engage diverse parties to set a foundation for stability, which is a precursor for peace. Focusing on the concepts of trust and engagement, she works to increase discussion and capacity within governments as this can help to coordinate action across agencies and reduce duplication of efforts.

Swathi’s work is inherently practice-based and works to engage stakeholders and actors in conflict and post-conflict situations. As for motivation for this work in times when it gets difficult, Swathi speaks of having faith in people that you meet: “There are ebbs and flows in the work. You have to believe in the people you’ve met and worked with so far; they aren’t going to go away. The work may change, but you have to look for those small success stories and see how they can continue to grow.”

To Swathi, environmental peacebuilding is about working to improve the way that humans coexist with the environment and the resources around us. She says, “We are caretakers, here for a short time. How do we bring together economists, lawyers, conservationists, and more to see this? We need to expand this network to have a whole world perspective--beyond environmentalist and development scholars and practitioners.” For her, the Association provides a means to engage in the broader community, to understand what work is being done and what is being researched. She is also currently teaching an undergraduate class at Georgetown University through which she is helping to build the next generation of environmental peacebuilders.