Global Poverty & Practice Minor
Faculty
Khalid Kadir is a Continuing Lecturer at UC Berkeley, teaching courses in the Global Poverty & Practice (GPP) program, Political Economy, and Civil and Environmental Engineering. He received his PhD in 2010 from Berkeley in Civil and Environmental Engineering, where his research focused on pathogen removal in natural water and wastewater treatment systems. While completing this research, Khalid was awarded a Fulbright Fellowship to work on water and wastewater treatment systems in Morocco. During this time, he began studying the complex role that engineering expertise plays in the politics of international development and poverty alleviation. His current research focuses on engineering pedagogy, the political economy of public higher education, and water and sanitation in humanitarian contexts.
In 2013 Khalid was selected as a Chancellor’s Public Scholar to create and teach an innovative interdisciplinary course tackling issues of environmental and social justice. In the course, students coming from technical disciplines are trained to recognize and engage with the social and political roots of problems that have technical components. In recognition of his work on this unique course and of his teaching in the GPP program, Khalid was awarded the 2014 Chancellor’s Award for Public Service for Service-Learning Leadership and then in 2019 he was awarded the American Cultures Teaching Award. Finally, in 2017 Khalid received UC Berkeley’s Distinguished Teaching Award, the campus’ most prestigious honor for teaching.
In addition to his teaching and research, Khalid has remained engaged with applied practice, working on a number projects ranging from water and sanitation engineering to poverty action work, both internationally and domestically.
Clare Talwalker is a Lecturer in Global Studies and Political Economy and core faculty for the Global Poverty & Practice minor. She is co-editor with Ananya Roy of the UC Press book series Poverty, Interrupted. Trained in cultural anthropology, her research focuses on India, social inequalities, and postcoloniality. She writes also about student engagement in aid work and poverty alleviation. She offers classes on ethnographic methods, political economy, the anthropology of liberal human rights, and India. Talwalker grew up in Mumbai, India. She earned a B.A. at Dartmouth College and her Ph.D. at Duke University.
Clare Talwalker is a Lecturer in Global Studies and Political Economy and core faculty for the Global Poverty & Practice minor. She is co-editor with Ananya Roy of the UC Press book series Poverty, Interrupted. Trained in cultural anthropology, her research focuses on India, social inequalities, and postcoloniality. She writes also about student engagement in aid work and poverty alleviation. She offers classes on ethnographic methods, political economy, the anthropology of liberal human rights, and India. Talwalker grew up in Mumbai, India. She earned a B.A. at Dartmouth College and her Ph.D. at Duke University.
Ricardo G. Huerta Niño is a Lecturer in the Global Poverty & Practice minor, and has taught at UC Berkeley’s Department of City and Regional Planning and San Francisco State’s Urban Studies and Planning Department. He also has served as a Visiting Scholar at the Institute for the Study of Societal Issues and as an Affiliated Scholar at the Center for Research on Native American Issues. His most recent professional experience includes serving as a consultant for economic development with Kaiser Permanente, a consultant for city planning in San Rafael, and as Oakland’s Director of Collective Impact in the Office of the Mayor. His research and practice interests include community and economic development, environmental justice, public health, sustainable development, international development, philanthropy, planning theory, education, youth development, and ethnic studies. He received his PhD and MCP from the Department of City and Regional Planning at UC Berkeley and is also a graduate of UC Davis (BA), Stanford University (MA), and UC Berkeley’s International and Area Studies (MA).
Staff
Chetan Chowdhry manages and serves as the Lead Academic Advisor for the Global Poverty & Practice Minor. He also manages admissions and serves as an advisor for the Master of Development Engineering program. Chetan holds a Master’s degree in Counseling and Personnel Services from the University of Maryland, College Park, and a Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science and Environmental Analysis & Design from UC Irvine.
(510) 664-4423 | cchowdhry@berkeley.edu
Valerie is the Student Advisor and Program Manager for the Masters of Development Engineering and Global Poverty and Practice Minor at the Blum Center. Before joining the Blum Center, she worked on many higher education initiatives supporting Minority Serving Institutions and underserved communities across the United States. Valerie has a BA in Cognitive Science and Psychology from the University of California, Merced, and an M.S.Ed in Education Policy from the University of Pennsylvania. Outside of her work in student affairs, you can find Valerie baking, trying to find the best cup of coffee in the Bay Area, or at the local farmer’s markets.
(510) 664-4423 | cchowdhry@berkeley.edu
