Azmal Hossan is a Sociology Ph.D. student, a National Research Trainee of Interdisciplinary Training, Education, and Research in Food-Energy-Water Systems, and a Sustainability Leadership Fellow at the School of Global Environmental Sustainability at Colorado State University (CSU). Before joining the CSU Sociology Ph.D. program, Azmal obtained his MA in Sociology from Texas Tech University and his BA in Sociology from the University of Dhaka, Bangladesh. Azmal identifies himself as a public sociologist with an interdisciplinary social science research background in climate change adaptation, food-energy-water nexus, environmental justice, and science communication.
For his Ph.D. dissertation project, he is conducting participatory action research on how the revitalization of Tribal self-determination capacity rooted in the practice of traditional ecological knowledge can help Tribal Nations in the Northern Great Plains adapt to the changing climate given the history and legacy of settler colonialism. In doing so, Azmal is following decolonizing and indigenizing methodologies often overlooked in Western Science-dominated climate change adaptation research. His dissertation is supported by Diverse Knowledge Systems for Climate Adaptation Fellowship at the National Climate Adaptation Science Center, United States Geological Survey. The dissertation research is influenced by a project he has been leading at the Great Plains Tribal Water Alliance (GPTWA), a consortium partner of the North Central Climate Adaptation Science Center. As a Student Intern at GPTWA, Azmal has been assessing Tribal climate change adaptation water needs and priorities through intensive document analysis and in-depth interviews with the Tribal Water Resource Managers in the Northern Great Plains. He has been actively involved in developing Drought Adaptation Plans, writing Tribal climate resilience grant proposals for GPTWA members, etc. As part of his public sociology activism, Azmal frequently speaks in podcasts and writes science communication pieces for blogs, magazines, and social media platforms.