Adapting to climate change
Extreme risks, vulnerability, and community-based adaptation in India
2012 – 2014
This study funded by the Embassy of Norway in India, assessed vulnerability to extreme drought in Jalna district, Maharashtra and identified enabling conditions for effective community-based adaptation. I designed and analysed a household survey and key person interviews on coping with extreme drought, coordinated extensively with district field extension officers and state government, and used participatory methods to assess barriers that prevent effective disaster risk mitigation, including governance, institutions and policies. I also held capacity building workshops for farmers, field extension officers and district government officials, published policy briefs and organized science-policy dialogues for state and national government officials.
Assessing climate change vulnerability and adaptation strategies for Maharashtra State, India
2012 – 2013
As part of this assignment for the Government of Maharashtra, I analysed data from a survey of 1500 farming and fishing households, conducted local-level consultations on vulnerability and adaptation to climate change, and worked with a team of experts to develop adaptation options in agriculture, water resources, health, forestry, coastal and urban areas. I worked closely with Maharashtra state government officials to finalize the report and State Action Plan with inputs from relevant line ministries and departments.
Read Maharashtra State Adaptation Action Plan on Climate Change
Building capacity for adaptive governance through participatory modelling: rural and urban flooding in India
2013 – 2014
As Co-PI of this project funded by Asia Pacific Network for Global Change Research (APN), Japan, I trained sub-national policymakers and practitioners in Bangalore and Assam on systems thinking and adaptive governance using innovative group model-building techniques to identify risk management measures for flooding.
Pilot application of participatory approach to investigate local vulnerability and adaptation to climate variability and water stress in Uttarakhand, India
2004 – 2006
I was one of 20 young scientists selected for a grant from the Advanced Institute on Vulnerability to Global Environmental Change, a program funded by the David and Lucille Packard Foundation and coordinated by the Global Change System for Analysis Research and Training (START) in partnership with the International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis (IIASA) to participate in 3-week seminar in IIASA and carry out a 15-month research project. As PI, I used participatory methods to assess the vulnerability and adaptive capacity of rural mountain-dwelling households engaged in agriculture to cope with current climatic variability and water stress, and to elicit adaptation interventions identified by the affected communities themselves.
Vulnerability to climate change in the context of economic globalization
2001 – 2004
I played a key coordinating role in this Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA)-funded project on the vulnerability of Indian agriculture to multiple stressors. The study had partners from Norway, Canada, and India, and the research team (of 10 members) comprised geographers, economists, agriculture scientists, and statisticians. The innovative contribution of this study was to examine vulnerability to climate change in the context of economic changes due to globalization. GIS-based mapping of vulnerability indicator based on secondary data was followed by field work with farmers in four vulnerable states in India. The research paper from this study has been cited by more than 900 other papers.
Adaptive policies for agriculture, water resources and climate change: designing policies that can adapt to a world of uncertainty, change and surprise
2005 - 2007
As part of this International Development Research Centre (IDRC)-funded study, I worked with researchers from the International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD) and the Institute for Social and Environmental Transformation (ISET) to identify and analyse policies in the Indian agriculture sector that incorporated elements of flexibility, feedback, and learning.
Climate & Development Research Review
2012
The Climate and Development Research Review was funded by the Climate & Development Knowledge Network (CDKN). I did technical editing, review and synthesis of literature on climate and development research, and worked closely with copyeditors to develop the final look of the reports, including consistency of themes, case studies, and images.
Other projects
The governance of climate services: Improving knowledge networks for resilient and socially just societies (GovClimServices) - Research Council of Norway (2015)
Himalayan Adaptation, Water and Resilience (HI-AWARE) research on glacier and snowpack dependent river basins for improving livelihoods - IDRC (2014-15)
State level consultative workshop on implications of climate change on water and sanitation - United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) (2013-14)
Socioeconomic scenarios for climate change impact assessment for India - UK DEFRA and MoEF, GoI (2001-04)