Professional Experience:
INDEPENDENT CONSULTANT
October 2018 - present
Senior advisor to the Tata Trusts (until March 2019): providing expertise on land use related grantmaking as well as strategy development for the India Climate Collaborative (ICC). The ICC is a coalition of India’s largest philanthropies partnering with international foundations including the Climate and Land Use Alliance, MacArthur Foundation, Packard Foundation, Oak Foundation and Good Energies Foundation.
Lead author (on-going) of a working paper published by the World Resources Institute for the Food and Land Use Coalition.
Member of a high-level task force (on-going) of the Government of Madhya Pradesh, mandated to develop a policy framework for resolving a decades old conflict that affects nearly 1.2 million hectares of land and forests, and more than 1 million households.
Visiting Professor in development studies at the Indian Institute of Technology, Mandi.
DIRECTOR (RESTORATION -INDIA), WORLD RESOURCES INSTITUTE
February 2015-September 2018
As a member of WRI’s global management team as well as the India Executive Team, established and led a forest program in India; enlarged relationships with bilateral donors as well as Indian and international foundations; contributed to institutional and programmatic strategy development; provided thought leadership on forests, landscape restoration and indigenous rights; forged relationships with partners in government, civil society, academia, financial institutions and private sector; strengthened internal collaboration with forest colleagues in WRI’s US, Brazil, Indonesia, Africa and China offices as well as with colleagues in governance, finance, and economics centres; represented WRI externally, in national and global forums; contributed to processes of organizational governance in India, including transitions from Liaison Office to private unlimited company and a Trust .
POST-DOCTORAL RESEARCHER AND INDEPENDENT CONSULTANT
October 2012 - February 2015
Designed and delivered research assignments in:
Forest and natural resource governance: Two illustrative assignments include a study on mainstreaming governance approaches in forest and water sector projects in the Hindu Kush Himalayas, conducted for the International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development; and a study on understanding and strengthening governance for forest landscape restoration in Himachal Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Sikkim and Karnataka states of India. This study was conducted for USAID/Forest-PLUS India and IUCN, with funding from DFID -KNOWFOR.
Responsible tourism for conservation: Identified the potential for ecotourism to support conservation in protected areas. The study was supported by the Travel Operators for Tigers (ToFT), United Kingdom and provided input to lawyers contesting a ban on tourism in Tiger Reserves, imposed by the Supreme Court of India. Also designed and scoped a multi-stakeholder approach to community-based tourism for tiger conservation