(Associate Professor, Anthropology)
a.ambika@iitgn.ac.in
I am an anthropologist of wildlife conservation with an interest in human-animal relations and community-based conservation. My ongoing and long-term research aims to understand how local and global forces shape the human-animal relations. I completed my PhD thesis in Anthropology from the National University of Singapore in 2016. I am trained in both natural and social sciences with masters’ degrees in Wildlife Sciences from Wildlife Institute of India (Dehradun) and Anthropology, Environment and Development from University College London (UK) funded by Ford Foundation’s International Fellowship Program. In 2017, I was awarded the Social Sciences Research Council (SSRC) Transregional Research Junior Scholar Fellowship. My book “Tigers Are Our Brothers: Anthropology of Wildlife Conservation in Northeast India” was published by Oxford University Press in 2021. My edited volume with Arka Chattopadhyay and Nishaant Choksi, titled “ Ecological Entanglements: Affect, Embodiment and Ethics of Care” published by Orient BlackSwan, 2023.
I have an Honours degree in Political Science from the University of Delhi (2014) and a Master's in Public Policy and Governance from the Tata Institute of Social Sciences (2016). I have worked as a Research Intern with the World Wide Fund for Nature, Chintan Environmental Research and Action Group, and the Centre for Science and Environment.
PhD topic: A mobility perspective to people-place relationships
I completed MSc (Zoology) from Rajiv Gandhi University, Itanagar in 2021. I joined IITGN as Research Assistant to document the indigenous hunting and trapping practices. My research interests are ethnobiology, human-animal relations, and community-based conservation. Currently, doing BEd because I also have an interest in teaching.
Bio: I have an honours degree in History from the University of Delhi and a Master's in Global Studies from the School of Global Affairs, Ambedkar University Delhi. I worked with Prof. Ambika Aiyadurai as a research assistant at IIT Gandhinagar. My research interests include political ecology, environmental and conservation issues, and indigenous knowledge systems.
PhD topic: Contested Belonging: Rights, Governance and Conservation in Manipur
I was at IIT Gandhinagar on various projects, including ‘Human-bird relations in India’, Mangroves of Gujrat and Campus biodiversity project. I have completed my bachelor's in Culture Studies: Indigenous Cultures from the Central University of Jharkhand and Master’s from the IIT Gandhinagar in Society and Culture. My research interests vary from indigenous religions and cultures to human-animal relations.
I hold a PhD in Tribal Studies and work as an Assistant Professor at Jomin Tayeng Government Model Degree College Roing. I have authored two books “Idu Mishmi Shamanic Funeral Ritual Ya,” (Bookwell Publications New Delhi, 2018) and “IGU-Study on Four Idu Mishmi Shamanic Rituals” (Bookwell Publications, New Delhi, 2021). I have co-authored a book chapter “Eno: Eco-Spiritual Water Climes of Dibang Valley, Arunachal Pradesh (2023) and am working on a co-authored paper on wild pig hunting among the Idu Mishmi.
Bio: I have a bachelor's degree in B.Sc Forensic Science from Adikavi Nannaya University, Andra Pradesh, and a Master's degree in MA in Applied Criminology and Police Studies from Sardar Patel University of Police, Security and Criminal Justice, Jodhpur. I am also a UGC JRF in Criminology (2022). My Research interests are Green Criminology, Criminal Justice, and Indigenous people.
Ph.D. topic: When Tribals Become 'Criminals': A Green Criminology Study in Kerala.
My doctoral research looks into behavioral and feminist political ecologies of human-elephant interaction in rural northeastern India. I am deeply interested in human-wildlife relations, interdisciplinary conservation science and socio-ecological studies of Indian forestry. In various projects, I have documented indigenous hunting in Nagaland, explored gendered implications of human-elephant interactions, and identified the nature and patterns of community participation in wildlife conservation projects, all in northeastern India. At IITGN, I completed a project on community-based conservation in northeast India.
I completed my MA in Society and Culture from IIT Gandhinagar and worked on various research projects that examine the role of local communities residing in the eco-sensitive zones such as Gir National Park and Nal Sarovar Bird Sanctuary. Currently, I am working in eco-critical readings that examine the nature-culture relationship in tribal communities of Bhil, Mavchi and Gonds through ethnographic field study and close reading of the Marathi, Gujarati and Hindi regional literature produced by the indigenous writers.
I have a Bachelor of Arts degree in Sociology from North-Eastern Hill University and a Master of Social Work from Pondicherry University. My research interests include agrarian studies, relationships between the environment and indigenous people, traditional knowledge and practices, tribal studies and northeast India studies.
PhD topic: Thinglhang Lou: Swidden Farming and its Continuity in Manipur
I have a Master’s degree in Sociology from Delhi School of Economics, Delhi University and a MPhil degree in Women’s Studies from Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Mumbai. My research interests broadly include, gender and ecology and political ecology with special focus on forest dependent communities living in Northeast India.
Research projects: Wildlife in Arunachal Pradesh: History, Science and Technology of Hunting and Trapping (Funding: Indian National Science Academy) and Mangrove stories in Gujarat (Funding: Social Science Research Council).