C'est fini!

I've been radio silent for a while...apologies. I had this idea that maybe I should actually work a bit.

Turns out, that wasn't a horrible idea! 96669 words later, I have a doctoral thesis submitted to the Examinations Office and a viva this winter. :)

Rather than reading my thesis, I suggest everyone stick to the acknowledgements. They say pretty much everything the academic nonsense actually means:

Acknowledgements

I am and always will be

the optimist

the hoper of far-flung hopes

the dreamer of improbable dreams.                          -The Eleventh Doctor

This project is dedicated to all those who and all that which
draws hope close and makes dreams real.

To Elliot Stoller and Khaled Alshawi, who acted on an idea to bring change-makers together; Dari AlHuwail, who asked if I would come write about divers in Kuwait; Abdelkrim Boublouh, who told me I should check out a little Moroccan NGO; Yasmeen Makarem, who connected me with a woman named Vanessa; and the many amazing AMENDS Fellows, who unapologetically rock the boat:

May you keep healing our world.

To Matt Zierler, who pointed out that I was allowed to blend my environmental and Middle Eastern obsessions; Mark Axelrod, who skilfully guided that blending; Mark Zeitoun, who asked if I might volunteer at a conference; Alex Loftus, who lured me to King’s with Marxist water theory; and Naho Mirumachi, who encouraged as well as she critiqued and let go as often as she redirected:

May you never forget that what you do changes lives.

To the Marshall Aid Commemoration Commission, the US Environmental Protection Agency, and the King’s College London Graduate School, School of Social Sciences and Public Policy Postgraduate Research Fund, Theme 13 Grant Scheme, and Department of Geography Small Grants Fund, which financed portions of this work and its dissemination:

May you continue to support communities as they explore.

To the indigenous women and foreign visitors of Dar Si Hmad, who share together in true collaboration; the Kuwaiti schoolchildren and international divers of the Environmental Voluntary Foundation, who clean beaches they did not make dirty: and the Lebanese journalists and Syrian refugees of the Media Association for Peace, who see creative solutions even in the dark:

May you always see I in Thou and Thou in I.

To Iorwerth and Rafael, who delighted more than they distracted and taught more with their laughter and tears than any book ever will:

May the Earth be good to you, and you to it.

And most especially, to the fog droplets in the Anti-Atlas that mystify; the cedar trees in the Chouf that inspire; and the sea turtles in the Gulf that entrance:

May this do some justice to your voices.