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Blanche Butera

School: Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy

Department: Sustainable Water Management

Research Interests: Water Science & Systems, Food Systems, Climate Change, Energy Innovation, International Relations, Business & Economics

Experience

Blanche Butera is a Master’s student in the Sustainable Water Management (SWM) program, hosted by TIE. She expects to complete her M.S. in August 2020. Prior to coming to Tufts, Blanche earned her B.S. in Integrated Science with minors in Water Science and Leadership & Entrepreneurship. She worked on several different climate change financing projects with the Rwandan Ministry of Agriculture. Among those projects was one led by the Green Climate Fund (GCF) around increasing the resilience of vulnerable communities to climate change, and another with the Nationally Appropriate Mitigation Action (NAMA) on low carbon transformation of the Rwandan tea processing sector.

Current Studies and Future Goals

When asked what she found most meaningful about her field of study, Blanche said, “I think the M.S SWM degree is special because it brings a diverse cohort of students along with faculty to discuss and evaluation case studies from around the world on water, food, and energy.”

Upon completion of the SWM program, Blanche plans to return home to Rwanda, where she hopes to apply her analytical skills around water and food systems, valuation of water resources, and cost-benefit project analysis.

Fun Facts!

When not doing school work, Blanche can be found reading and cooking delicious East African meals.

Favorite Food: Fufu

Favorite Place You’ve Visited: Rwanda Volcanoes National Park

Dream Job: Own my own consultancy firm

Other fun facts: I started speaking at the age of 4