Department & Program:

• Natural Resources Institute, PhD in Natural Resources and Environmental Management

Funding Sources:

• Trudeau Foundation Doctoral Scholarships (2006 – 2010)
• CGIAR System-wide Program on Collective Action and Property Rights PhD Field-Research Fellowships (2006, Declined)
• Research Fellowship from the Canada Research Chair in CBRM held by Dr Fikret Berkes (2004 - 2006)

Research Focus:

My research is based on the premise that the issues of human rights and social justice are inherently linked to the natural environment in resource-based communities.  A process of marginalization occurs when individuals and communities lose their traditional resource rights and become disconnected from their environment, and this can be a two-way feedback process.  How do we connect the issues of human rights-social justice and the environment? The research theorizes that (a) livelihood analysis is central to this connection, and (b) a promising approach is community-based management with attention to linkages and partnerships. The research approaches the problem by querying about entitlements (in the sense of Amartya Sen), resource access (as used in the common property literature), control of people over their environment (as used in political ecology), and the role of the State as barrier to, or facilitator of, community-based management (as discussed in some of the “good governance” literature).

My research examines the fishing communities of Chilika Lagoon (a Ramsar wetland site of international conservation significance) on the east coast of India. The loss of rights and livelihoods for the fisherfolk, along with the breakdown of traditional systems of management has disconnected them from their lagoon environment. I will study the role of the state in re-establishing an appropriate communal rights regime and reconnecting the communities to their environment. Through my research I envision a new role for the state — one that enables a non-threatening atmosphere in which rural communities are empowered to form their own identities.

My professional engagements so far have given me the unique opportunity to work both in practice and research. I have contributed meaningfully to the ongoing debate and developments on the contemporary issues in resource management through my publications and by participating in relevant forum. My career goal is to further this endeavour by adding academic rigor to my work, and the doctoral study will equip me to make more sustained efforts in this regard. I see myself working towards linking practice to academics for better conceptualization of field realities. In the rest of my career I would like to work as an academic-practitioner-teacher as I continue to focus on developing community-based approaches that are key to ensuring social justice. I currently hold a Trudeau Foundation Doctoral Scholarship, which provides me with great support, both financial and intellectual, in moving towards my goal.