Bijayashree Satpathy is a postdoctoral researcher at the Albert Hirschman Centre on Democracy. Her doctoral work was on conservation and livelihood issues in protected areas. As a part of her research, she critically studied the protected area governance, where multiple actors have been influencing the decisions inside it. The dynamics of local communities experiencing the implementation of multiple conservation legislation and alignment or negotiation of their livelihood with the dominant agenda of conservation were some key aspects of the study.
Prior to work as a full-time researcher, Bijayashree also assisted in many research projects in Centro Internacional de Mejoramiento de Maíz y Trigo (CIMMYT) - a non-profit agricultural research and training institute. Over four years of tenure, she gained rich experience while working with state and national level organizations in various capacities. Her experience in action research aids her to move beyond the academics and contribute towards social transformation. She has intensive fieldwork experience in the regressive regions in India.
Bijayashree also taught interdisciplinary courses like tribal studies, rural development, environmental studies and social change and development, to the undergraduate and master students in the Department of Humanities and Social Sciences of GITAM University in Visakhapatnam, India.
Her current interest is to explore how multiple actors negotiate the governance in the mining sector in India while maintaining the balance between ecology and economy. She is also interested in understanding the interactions of state, community and civil society in the management and conservation of scarce natural resources through various institutions in both developing and developed countries.
Satpathy, B. (2018). ‘Crossing Divides: Conducting Mixed Methods Research in Protected Areas’ in Indian Journal of Social Work, 79(3): 291-308.
Satpathy, B. (2017). ‘Forest Rights Act Implementation in Odisha: Redressing Historical Injustices’ in South Asia Research, 37(3): 259-276.
Satpathy, B. (2015). ‘Where are Tribals in Their Development? A Century of Indian Forest Legislations’ in International Journal of Rural Management, 11(1): 60-74.