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Selena Ahmed
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I am a second-year doctoral student in the Plant Sciences Program at the Graduate Center of the City University of New York. I received my B.A. in economics from Barnard College in 2001. My senior thesis investigated the effect of price premiums paid during mergers and acquisitions in capturing deal synergies and creating market value. I went on to work as a financial analyst at JPMorgan and soon decided to pursue my interdisciplinary interests in economic development, medicinal and food plants, and biodiversity conservation. During 2002-2004 I worked towards earning my MSc in Ethnobotany at the University of Kent at Canterbury in collaboration with the Royal Botanic Gardens at Kew, UK. I conducted my MSc thesis in the Argan UNESCO Biosphere Reserve in Southwest Morocco. My study examined the socio-economic impacts of the commercialization of seed oil extracted from Argania spinosa (Sapotaceae) on rural livelihoods and subsequent environmental initiatives. This research contributed to the Global Diversity Foundation's project "Wildlife Trade in Southern Morocco" sponsored by the National Geographic Conservation Trust. Following my masters program I conducted a baseline assessment of the woodcarving trade in Belize and worked in the Western Ghats and Eastern Himalaya of India to identify, market, and manage sustainable non-timber forest products for local livelihoods. My doctoral studies are designed to further my abilities to participate in successful initiatives for sustainable development through plant resources by incorporating a phytochemistry approach (to scientifically validate traditional claims of plant attributes). I plan to focus on botanicals used in women's healthcare while exploring cross-cultural worldviews on concepts of dis-ease and healing. I will be a fellow at Clinton DeWitt High School for the 2005-2006 academic year.
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