Deborah Seligsohn is an Assistant Professor of Political Science at Villanova University. Her research focuses on Chinese politics, U.S.-China relations, and energy and environmental politics in China and India. Prior to receiving her Ph.D. in Political Science and International Affairs from the University of California, San Diego in 2018, she worked in both the NGO and government sectors on energy, climate, and the environment. From 2007 to 2012, she was based in Beijing as the Principal Advisor to the World Resources Institute’s China Energy and Climate Program. She also had over 20 years’ experience in the United States Department of State, working on energy and environment issues in China, India, Nepal, and New Zealand. Her most recent position was as Environment, Science, Technology, and Health Counselor in Beijing, 2003-2007. Her work has appeared in political science journals and through the World Resources Institute, as well as in The Washington Post, South China Morning Post, The Financial Times, and other publications.
Last Updated: March 27, 2020
Conversation
02.12.21
Will China Be a Global Vaccine Leader?
Beijing stands to reap major rewards by becoming the supplier of choice—or necessity—throughout low- and middle-income countries. China has expanded its international aid efforts in recent years and stressed its commitment to “south-south”...
Conversation
03.28.20
Is U.S.-China Cooperation on COVID-19 Still Possible?
Over the past two weeks, as the outbreak of the virus known has COVID-19 has accelerated its deadly spread around the world, an already collapsing U.S.-China relationship appears to be entering a period of free fall. This is happening at a moment...
Conversation
03.11.16
Is China Doing Enough for the Environment?
This week, at their biggest annual session in Beijing, Chinese lawmakers are expected to ratify the country’s 13th Five-Year Plan, which contains many new measures to address rampant pollution of the country’s air, soil, and water. Will the plan be...
Environment
03.10.16
How China’s 13th Five-Year Plan Addresses Energy and the Environment
For the first time ever, a senior Chinese leader announced in his work report to the National People’s Congress—his most important formal speech of the year—that environmental violators and those who fail to report such violations will be “severely...
Sinica Podcast
01.27.16
Air Pollution and Climate Change
from Sinica Podcast
This week on Sinica, Kaiser Kuo and David Moser are joined by Deborah Seligsohn, former science counselor for the U.S. Embassy in Beijing and currently a doctoral candidate at the University of California, San Diego, where she studies environmental...
Conversation
12.09.15
Is China a Leader or Laggard on Climate Change?
As ongoing climate talks wind down at COP21 this week, participants in and observers of the summit in Paris wrote in to share their assessment of the message coming from the official delegation from China, currently the world’s largest emitter of...
Conversation
03.03.15
Why Has This Environmental Documentary Gone Viral on China’s Internet?
[Updated: March 6, 2015] Our friends at Foreign Policy hit the nail on the head by headlining writer Yiqin Fu's Monday story "China's National Conversation about Pollution Has Finally Begun." What happened? Well, in the...
Conversation
11.19.14
Was the U.S.-China Climate Deal Worth the Wait?
Last week, Ann Carlson and Alex Wang, environmental experts at UCLA Law School, called the November 12 U.S.-China Joint Announcement on Climate Change "monumental." "No two countries are more important to tackling the problem than the...