Across places.
Between disciplines.

Science and spatial understanding.

I completed my undergraduate degree in 2006, studying chemistry, biochemistry, zoology and English. I subsequently completed a postgraduate diploma in Remote Sensing and Geographic Information Systems, followed by a master’s degree in Environmental Science at the University of Kashmir. This combination brought together an understanding of biological and chemical processes with the spatial methods needed to study environmental change across landscapes.

Watersheds and the Himalayan cryosphere.

From 2011 to 2015, I worked as a researcher at the University of Kashmir on nationally funded projects spanning flood vulnerability, watershed processes, environmental risk and the Himalayan cryosphere. My work combined field investigations with satellite observations and spatial analysis, examining connections among glaciers, water, sediment and downstream communities. I was among the early researchers involved in the university’s cryospheric work, preceding its present Himalayan cryospheric research laboratory. These experiences established a continuing interest in mountain water systems and environmental vulnerability.

The Indus Basin and regional cooperation.

From 2015 to 2016, I worked as a Short-Term Consultant (STC) with the World Bank in New Delhi. I contributed to developing an Indus Basin research proposal on climate change impacts and sustainable water management, bringing together researchers from India, Pakistan, China and Afghanistan.

My work included supporting transboundary research collaboration and participating in stakeholder meetings in Thailand and at ICIMOD in Kathmandu. This experience broadened my understanding of how scientific cooperation, data sharing and regional perspectives can inform climate adaptation across a shared river basin.

Connecting information with decisions.

From 2016 to July 2018, I served as Programme Officer under the Environmental Information System (ENVIS), a national programme of the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, Government of India. Working with government departments, researchers and other stakeholders extended my experience from producing scientific evidence to communicating and applying it. Environmental information, capacity building and engagement with planning processes became an important part of how I understood the relationship between research and public decisions.

Developing an independent research programme.

I subsequently returned to research and completed my PhD in Environmental Science at Suresh Gyan Vihar University in 2021. My doctoral research examined how climate change affects ecosystem service provision in Kashmir, connecting environmental processes and spatial analysis with the benefits that people receive from nature.

In 2020, during my PhD, I received a competitive Young Scientist award under the Department of Science and Technology, Government of India’s Scheme for Young Scientists and Technologists (DST-SYST). As an independent Principal Investigator, I led a project on mapping and quantifying ecosystem service provision in Kashmir under a changing climate. This provided the independence to develop and lead my own research programme, continuing until my move to Japan in April 2023.

Environmental science across places.

In April 2023, I joined the University of Tokyo as a Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS) Postdoctoral Fellow. My research expanded to transboundary ecosystem services in the Indus Basin, examining how environmental change and management choices influence water provision, sediment retention and flood regulation across connected landscapes.

I subsequently joined the American University of Sharjah in 2025 and now serve as a Faculty Research Fellow. My current research brings together remote sensing, GeoAI and environmental modelling to investigate coastal ecosystems, blue carbon, water resources and climate risk, connecting scientific understanding with choices about conservation, restoration and climate adaptation.