W. Nathan Green

Dr. W. Nathan Green is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Geography at the National University of Singapore (NUS). His research focuses on how development finance transforms environments and livelihoods in Southeast Asia, particularly in Cambodia and the Mekong Basin. He employs ethnographic methods to study political ecology, agrarian change, and the intersections of finance, debt, and social justice. His work critiques microfinance industries, impact investment, and the financialization of development, emphasizing their role in dispossession and environmental harm.

Education:

• PhD (Geography), University of Wisconsin-Madison
• MA (Southeast Asian Studies), University of Wisconsin-Madison
• BA (Geography & Comparative History of Ideas), University of Washington

Research Interests:

• Political ecology of agrarian finance and microfinance
• Debt-driven environmental change (e.g., deforestation)
• Impact of Chinese development finance and infrastructure
• Social reproduction and translocal precarity
• Critical agrarian studies and food regimes

Teaching & Awards:

• Recipient of NUS Promising Research Award (2023)
• 2022 Faculty Teaching Excellence Award and 2023 Annual Teaching Excellence Award
• Focus on participatory learning, fieldwork, and global socio-environmental challenges

Grants & Projects:

• Funded by Fulbright, Mellon Foundation, NASA, and Singapore Ministry of Education
• Current project: Impact investment for sustainable development in Southeast Asia

Labs/Teams: Collaborates with interdisciplinary teams on projects involving Southeast Asian development finance and political ecology.