Wilson Center Experts

Jennifer L. Turner

Director, China Environment Forum
China Environment Forum

Contact Information:
jennifer.turner@wilsoncenter.org
T 202-691-4233 // F 202-691-4001
Expertise:
Energy
;
Environment
;
China Environment
;
Water
;
Environmental Health
;
Asia
;
China Mainland
;
Taiwan

Jennifer Turner has been the director of the China Environment Forum at the Woodrow Wilson Center for 12 years. Besides putting on meetings and publications focusing on a variety of energy and environmental challenges facing China, she has coordinated several research exchange activities in China, the United States, and Japan bringing together Chinese, U.S., and other Asian experts on issues of energy and climate challenges, environmental nongovernmental organizations, environmental journalism, river basin governance, water conflict resolution, and municipal financing of environmental infrastructure.  Current projects are focusing on U.S.-China energy and climate cooperation, the impact of energy development on water resources in China, environmental governance in China, environmental impact of Chinese investment overseas, and pollution challenges in Lake Tai. She also serves as editor of the Wilson Center’s journal, the China Environment Series, which is mailed to over 3,000 environmental practitioners around the world who work on China’s energy and environmental issues.

She holds a Ph.D. in Public Policy and Comparative Politics from Indiana University, Bloomington, in 1997. Her dissertation examined local government innovation in implementing water policies in the People’s Republic of China. Her current research focuses on energy and water challenges and environmental civil society development in China.

Education
Ph.D., Public Policy and Comparative Politics, Joint Program in School of Public and Environmental Affairs and Department of Political Science, Indiana University; B.A., Germanic Language and Literature, University of Illinois; Chinese Language Certificate, Chinese Language Center, Cheng Kung University Tainan, Taiwan

Honors
Outstanding Faculty Award, by Psi Kappa Psi, Winthrop University, April 1999; Outstanding Instructor Award, Department of Political Science, Indiana University, February 1997; Indiana University International Programs Exchange Fellowship, for research at Hangzhou University, China; MacArthur Travel Grant, by the Indiana Center on Global Change and World Peace, dissertation research in China 1994-1995; Foreign Language Area Scholarship, by East Asian Studies Center, Indiana University, 1992; MacArthur Travel Grant, by the Indiana Center on Global Change and World Peace, research at the East-West Center, Hawaii, 1993

Major Publications

  • "China's Growing Ecological Footprint," coauthored with Linden Ellis, (The China Monitor, March 2007)
  • China's Filthiest Export," coauthored with Juli Kim, (Foreign Policy in Focus, February 2007)
  • Reaching across the Water: International Cooperation Promoting Sustainable River Basin Governance in China, coauthored with Kenji Otsuka (Woodrow Wilson Center, May 2006) (trilingual report)
  • "Building a Green Civil Society in China," coauthored with Lü Zhi, State of the World 2006 (WorldWatch Institute, 2006)
  • "Greening the Dragon: The Environmental Costs of China’s Economic Growth," The Ripon Forum, November/December 2005
  • "Small Government, Big (Green?) Society: Emerging Partnerships to Solve China's Environmental Problems," Harvard Asian Quarterly, 2004
  • "Beyond the Bureaucracy: Changing China's Policymaking Environment," (coauthored with Eric Zusman) in China's Environmental Challenges,(editor, Kris Day) (New York: Columbia University Press, forthcoming)
  • "Cultivating Environmental NGO-Business Partnerships in China," China Business Review, November 2003
  • Crouching Suspicion, Hidden Potential: U.S. Environmental and Energy Cooperation with China, co-author, ECSP China Environment Forum (Wilson Center, 2002)
  • Authority Flowing Downward? Local Government Entrepreneurship in the Chinese Water Sector, Ph.D. Dissertation, Indiana University, 1997
  • "Trickle Down? Administrative and Financial Decentralization in the Water Sector in the PRC" in Groundwater Law: The Growing Debate, ed. Marcus Moench, Gujart, India: VIKSAT-Pacific Institute Collaborative Groundwater Project, 1995. (co-authored with James Nickum).

Related Content for this Expert

Chinese Investment in Clean Energy

Apr 26, 2012
By Jennifer Turner Linden Ellis Devin Kleinfield-Hayes Quick Glance Chinese investment currently makes up a small but fast-growing portion of clean energy projects in the United States. Some Chinese companies have established local manufacturing in the United States to address US regulators' concerns about job creation. Some local governments in the United States have encouraged Chinese investment in clean energy by offering supportive policies such as tax credits. more

Cooperative Competitors

Oct 27, 2011
The China Environment Forum issued a new bilingual policy brief on our Cooperative Competitors project. Please find full articles attached in English and Chinese. more

Cooperative Competitors-Potential of U.S.-China Clean Energy Cooperation

Oct 27, 2011
more

Chinese Investment in North American Energy

May 31, 2012 // 9:00am — 11:00am
As world energy demand soars, nations and corporations around the globe are seeking new resources and techniques for expanding energy production. The Canada Institute and the China Environment Forum will examine these potential issues and look towards the future of the Chinese-North American energy relationship. more

A Way Toward a Super Ministry? A Case Study of Environmental Protection Administrative System Reform in China - Co-Sponsored with the World Bank

March 27, 2012 // 12:30pm — 2:00pm
China has made significant progress in building an administrative system for environmental protection from nil over the past 40 years. The most recent reform of the government organization at the national level in 2008 was guided by the concept of establishing a system of “super-ministries” with comprehensive functions so as to trim the size of the government and improve efficiency. As part of this, the then-State Environmental Protection Administration (SEPA) was upgraded to the level of a full ministry with a cabinet position on the State Council, renamed the Ministry of Environmental Protection (MEP). But the nation still is confronted by serious and growing environmental problems that require further significant advances. Based on the results of a World Bank Technical Assistance, the presentation will examine the current situation and problems with the administrative system for environmental protection, review past government administrative reforms and international experience, and set out a series of recommendations for the future reform of the national-level administrative system for environmental protection in six main areas - roles and responsibility of government agencies, environmental laws, a national coordination and decision making body, MEP organizational structure, supervision of local governments, and capacity building. more

Red, White, and Green? Environmental Security Threats and Sustainability Opportunities (OFFSITE)

June 10, 2011 // 7:30am — 9:30am
Environment and energy issues pose both threats and opportunities no matter where you sit. Leading experts discuss how two critical American actors are tackling these challenges: the business community and the U.S. military. more

Chinese Investment in Clean Energy

Apr 26, 2012
By Jennifer Turner Linden Ellis Devin Kleinfield-Hayes Quick Glance Chinese investment currently makes up a small but fast-growing portion of clean energy projects in the United States. Some Chinese companies have established local manufacturing in the United States to address US regulators' concerns about job creation. Some local governments in the United States have encouraged Chinese investment in clean energy by offering supportive policies such as tax credits.

Cooperative Competitors

Oct 27, 2011
The China Environment Forum issued a new bilingual policy brief on our Cooperative Competitors project. Please find full articles attached in English and Chinese.

Chinese Investment in North American Energy

May 31, 2012 // 9:00am — 11:00am
As world energy demand soars, nations and corporations around the globe are seeking new resources and techniques for expanding energy production. The Canada Institute and the China Environment Forum will examine these potential issues and look towards the future of the Chinese-North American energy relationship.

A Way Toward a Super Ministry? A Case Study of Environmental Protection Administrative System Reform in China - Co-Sponsored with the World Bank

March 27, 2012 // 12:30pm — 2:00pm
China has made significant progress in building an administrative system for environmental protection from nil over the past 40 years. The most recent reform of the government organization at the national level in 2008 was guided by the concept of establishing a system of “super-ministries” with comprehensive functions so as to trim the size of the government and improve efficiency. As part of this, the then-State Environmental Protection Administration (SEPA) was upgraded to the level of a full ministry with a cabinet position on the State Council, renamed the Ministry of Environmental Protection (MEP). But the nation still is confronted by serious and growing environmental problems that require further significant advances. Based on the results of a World Bank Technical Assistance, the presentation will examine the current situation and problems with the administrative system for environmental protection, review past government administrative reforms and international experience, and set out a series of recommendations for the future reform of the national-level administrative system for environmental protection in six main areas - roles and responsibility of government agencies, environmental laws, a national coordination and decision making body, MEP organizational structure, supervision of local governments, and capacity building.

Red, White, and Green? Environmental Security Threats and Sustainability Opportunities (OFFSITE)

June 10, 2011 // 7:30am — 9:30am
Environment and energy issues pose both threats and opportunities no matter where you sit. Leading experts discuss how two critical American actors are tackling these challenges: the business community and the U.S. military.

Cooperative Competitors-Potential of U.S.-China Clean Energy Cooperation

Oct 27, 2011

Hong Kong Conference Report: Sections 2-4 (English)

Jul 07, 2011
Includes sections on NGO networking and partnering; environmental education methods; and building the capacity of green NGOs.

Hong Kong Conference Report: Section 4 (English)

Jul 07, 2011
The second day of the Green NGO and Environmental Journalist Forum, the participants focused on NGO capacity building and NGO-journalist communication. Section 4 (continued).
Follow this Expert on RSS
Get Center Updates
About Events and Publications
Support the Wilson Center

Stay in Touch

Are you a Wilson Center alumnus? We want to hear about your latest move, award or project. Please send us your news at alumni@wilsoncenter.org.