Dr. Khandaker Jafor Ahmed

Dr. Khandaker Jafor Ahmed is an interdisciplinary postdoctoral research fellow at the Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute, where he works within The Nature Conservancy's Water Funds program. His research investigates the causal pathways linking nature based watershed restoration to human and livestock health outcomes, with particular attention to water quality, water availability, agricultural productivity, and psychosocial wellbeing in rural communities. His current work centers on the Upper Tana Nairobi Water Fund in Kenya, where he is developing longitudinal survey frameworks to measure how conservation interventions translate into measurable gains in population health over time.

Dr. Jafor earned his PhD in Environmental Studies from the University of Adelaide, Australia, and holds master's and bachelor's degrees in Sociology from Shahjalal University of Science and Technology, Bangladesh. His broader scholarship examines the intersections of climate change, population dynamics, and public health across Bangladesh, Kenya, and Uganda, with a sustained focus on disaster risk reduction and the demographic consequences of environmental stress in low and middle income settings. Before joining the Smithsonian, he held postdoctoral appointments at Georgetown University and the University of Michigan, where he contributed to large scale climate and health survey research.

At Geography 2050, Dr. Jafor will present his work on building robust, longitudinal health monitoring systems for nature based solutions projects across Africa.