My research is at the intersection of environmental and development economics, with themes overlapping conservation, political economy, and tribal livelihoods. I study how economic activity and institutions shape the natural world as well as the livelihoods of resource-dependent marginalized communities. My work closely relates to MPC's Spatial and Environmental Demography research area, evidenced by my ongoing research on: i) spatial effects of migration on land use, iii) long-term health effects of power plants, iii) tribal forest rights and commercial development, iv) smallholder cash-cropping and forest degradation, and v) ethnic discrimination in disaster relief payments. The geographic scope of my work currently spans India, West Africa, and South America.
I am an environmental economist with research themes overlapping development economics, agriculture, and political economy. I study how economic activity and institutions shape natural resources, including biodiversity, food, and air quality. The geographic scope of my ongoing work spans South Asia, West Africa, and South America, with a focus on communities that are natural-resource dependent, including smallholder farmers and tribal communities. My goal is for this work to help inform policy-making on how to balance economic development and conservation while protecting the livelihoods of marginalized communities.