In the News: Natalie Koch
Natalie Koch Speaks on ‘Arid Empire’ for Arizona State Library
The Maxwell School professor’s recent book is relevant as the state grapples with controversy over a Saudi dairy company’s farming.
See related: Agriculture, Middle East & North Africa, United States, Water
Koch Speaks With Freakonomics Radio About Why Arizona Grows Feed for Cows in Saudi Arabia
"What makes Arizona special is that when you have this desert land, you can grow alfalfa at an incredibly fast rate because of the amount of sunshine. So, as long as you have plentiful water, you can just grow," says Natalie Koch, professor of geography and the environment.
See related: Agriculture, Middle East & North Africa, United States, Water
Koch Discusses Saudi Arabia’s Investment in Sports in El País Article
“These investments try to connect with as many young Arabs who have an interest in sports,” says Natalie Koch, professor of geography and the environment. “It is part of the construction of a new identity, one that goes beyond the concept of being the epicenter of the Sunni Muslim world.”
See related: Economic Policy, Government, International Affairs, Middle East & North Africa
Koch Weighs In on the Location of the UN’s 2024 Climate Summit in NY Times Article
While there is an unavoidable conflict in a petrostate hosting a climate summit, it may also be fitting: The country that was home to the oil industry’s beginnings may also host negotiations that could one day bring the petroleum era to an end. “It is possible to frame it as something of a closure,” says Natalie Koch, professor of geography and the environment.
See related: Central Asia, Climate Change, Europe, International Governmental Organizations
Koch Discusses Arizona’s Water Shortage, the Role of Saudi Agribusiness With Al-Monitor, The World
“The (Saudi) government is very aware of the unsustainable agriculture practices that lead to a situation where the groundwater is no longer really able to sustain any substantial commercial agriculture,” says Natalie Koch, professor of geography and the environment.
See related: Agriculture, Middle East & North Africa, United States, Water
Koch Quoted in The Hill Article on Saudi Arabian Alfalfa Farms in Arizona
“If they [Saudi Arabia] want to be able to guarantee their population food security, they know that they can’t really do that domestically,” says Natalie Koch, professor of geography and the environment. The Arizonan land was particularly appealing to the kingdom “because you can get more bang for your buck when you buy that farm,” says Koch.
See related: Agriculture, Middle East & North Africa, United States, Water
Koch Discusses Saudi Arabian Farms Using Water From Arizona and California in KUSA Article
“If you can invest the capital to drill a deep well that can get deep into the groundwater supply, then you can really pump as much as you want,” says Natalie Koch, professor of geography and the environment. “This was appealing to the Saudis as well to go [to La Paz County], where they’re not being charged for water they extract because there’s no measuring of it.”
See related: Agriculture, Middle East & North Africa, United States, Water
Koch Weighs in on Western States Banning Foreign Groundwater Use in Stateline Article
“The U.S. has always been promoting and setting up this entire thing,” says Natalie Koch, professor of geography and the environment. “It’s not like the Americans are passive in this. We have absolutely helped sow the seeds for that Saudi agricultural industry that has come back to us now.”
See related: Agriculture, Middle East & North Africa, United States, Water
Koch Talks to KTVK About Arizona’s Outdated Water Law
Natalie Koch, professor of geography and the environment, argues that state lawmakers need to update the state’s 43 year old water law and create more active management areas to regulate water use across Arizona. “There needs to be some way of monitoring and regulating who is drawing what from the aquifers,” says Koch.
See related: Agriculture, United States, Water
Koch Explores Exchange of Colonial Technologies Between the Arabian Peninsula and the US in New Book
In her recently published book, “Arid Empire: The Entangled Fates of Arizona and Arabia” (Verso, 2023), Maxwell School faculty member Natalie Koch explores the exchange of colonial technologies between the Arabian Peninsula and the United States over the last two centuries.
See related: Middle East & North Africa, United States
Koch Article on Arizona Depleting its Groundwater Supply Published in New York Times
“Pumping groundwater in Arizona remains largely unregulated,” writes Natalie Koch, professor of geography. “It’s this legal failing that, in part, allows the Saudi company to draw unlimited amounts of water to grow an alfalfa crop that feeds dairy cows 8,000 miles away.”
See related: Agriculture, Middle East & North Africa, United States, Water
Maxwell School Announces 2022 Faculty Promotions
See related: Promotions & Appointments
Koch Quoted in BBC Article on Dubai, Desertification
See related: Agriculture, Climate Change, Middle East & North Africa
Koch talks to Middle East Institute about UAE's citizenship initiative
See related: Government, Middle East & North Africa
Handbook on the Changing Geographies of the State: New Spaces of Geopolitics
Koch discusses her book The Geopolitics of Spectacle on BBC Radio
See related: Middle East & North Africa
The Geopolitics of Spectacle: Space, Synecdoche, and the New Capitals of Asia
Koch speaks with Astana Times about Kazakhstan’s energy landscape
Maxwell names Montgomery Gruber Professor, O'Hanley Faculty Scholars
Andrew Wender Cohen, professor of history, has been announced as the recipient of the Montgomery Gruber Professorship. Additionally, the O’Hanley Faculty Endowed Fund for Faculty Excellence, which serves to help recognize, reward and retain excellent teachers at the school, announced three new scholars: Azra Hromadžić, associate professor of anthropology; Natalie Koch, associate professor of geography; and Rebecca Schewe, assistant professor of sociology.
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