Amelia McGowan, an assistant professor of law and the director of the U of A School of Law's Immigration Clinic, traveled to Buenos Aires, Argentina, this summer to meet with faculty and students at Universidad Austral. During her visit, she delivered a lecture on climate migration and joined faculty and students from Universidad Austral to meet with members of the Chamber of Deputies at Argentina's National Congress.

The visit was part of a collaboration between the two universities focusing on the critical global issue of climate migration. On July 23, McGowan presented a lecture as part of a masterclass titled "The Climate Unites Us: A Conference on Migration and Environmental Displacement in the Americas." The event, hosted by the School of Government at Universidad Austral, also included presenters from the Development Bank of Latin America and the Caribbean and the International Organization for Migration. The discussion highlighted a sobering World Bank estimate: by 2050, climate change could force 216 million people to move within their own countries. Climate change is also forcing a growing number of people to seek safety outside their own countries.

McGowan's lecture focused on a story that connected this global phenomenon directly to Arkansas: the migration of people from the Marshall Islands to Springdale and surrounding areas. According to the Marshallese Educational Initiative, Arkansas is home to the largest population of Marshallese outside the Marshall Islands, with more than 12,000 Marshallese residents living in Springdale alone. While Marshallese citizens have lived in Arkansas for decades, rising sea levels and extreme weather are increasingly threatening the Pacific island nation, forcing more residents of the Marshall Islands to seek safety abroad — including in Arkansas.

She explained that while a Compact of Free Association has allowed many Marshallese citizens to live and work in the U.S. without a visa since 1986, these protections are neither permanent nor comprehensive. This leaves many Marshallese citizens fleeing climate change with no guaranteed protection in the United States. She added that the Refugee Convention offers no safeguards against most climate-related impacts. McGowan concluded by asking a critical question about the future: "There is a growing concern for those who are forced to return to the islands. Where are they going to return to and what would repatriation be like if the islands are slowly disappearing?"

Later that week, McGowan accompanied students and faculty from Universidad Austral on a visit to the Palace of the Argentine National Congress. There, the group toured the palace and met with members of the Chamber of Deputies to engage in a substantive discussion about environmental policy.

The visit underscored the importance of building international academic relationships to address complex challenges. Belén Aliciardi, academic coordinator of the masters program in environmental policy, law and management at Universidad Austral, praised the conference as "the start of a relationship between the two universities, Austral and Arkansas, on a topic as important, current and concerning as climate migration."

McGowan agreed. "This collaboration between our universities is a testament to the need for interdisciplinary and international approaches to complex issues like climate migration. We are laying the groundwork for a continued dialogue that is essential for crafting effective policy and humanitarian responses in the future."