Dipika is a researcher interested in public policy and governance of socio-ecological systems. She is currently pursuing her doctoral studies in the Resources, Environment and Development (READ) Group at the Crawford School of Public Policy, ANU. She has been awarded with the prestigious Australian National University Research Scholarship to conduct her doctoral research. In her PhD research, Dipika examines how power relations among polycentric actors (institutions situated across multiple scales and levels) influence governance processes for Indigenous peoples’ forest land tenure security in India.

In one of her publications on Indigenous women’s struggle for forest rights in India, she argues that India’s environmental policymakers must do more to offer Indigenous women opportunities to affect forest decision-making processes. To read more, please see: https://www.policyforum.net/indigenous-womens-struggle-for-forest-rights...

Recently, Dipika received the Best Poster Award at the prestigious Ostrom Workshop 7 at Indiana University, Bloomington, USA, that scholarly community refers as ‘Oscar of Ostrom’. Ostrom Workshop, occurring every five years since 1973, gathers leading minds from around the world. It brings together professionals and researchers to share solutions to the world’s most pressing problems involving communal and contested resources—from clean water to secure cyberspace. Updates posted here»https://wow.indiana.edu/agenda/posters.html and https://www.linkedin.com/posts/crawford-school-of-public-policy_anuexper...

Dipika holds a Master’s by research (M.Phil) in Natural Resource Management from the Indian Institute of Forest Management, and a Master’s and an Honours degree in Geography from the University of Delhi, India. Prior to joining ANU, she conducted significant policy research across water, renewable energy, agriculture, forestry, climate change and livelihood spheres in association with numerous research organizations, including the International Water Management Institute (New Delhi), The Energy and Resources Institute (New Delhi), and the Central Himalayan Environment Association (Dehradun, Uttarakhand).

Her research interests include (but are not limited to)cross-cutting issues of environmental governance, Indigenous (in)justice, power relations, forest and land commons, livelihoods, gender, sustainability and climate action. In pursuing research on these issues, she actively seeks collaborative opportunities with scholars across relevant disciplinary fields.

Dipika has taken on numerous academic and leadership roles. She currently serves as an Academic Tutor in numerous postgraduate and undergraduate courses at ANU and a Senior Residential Scholar at the ANU Graduate House. Previously, Dipika held the position of HDR representative at the ANU South Asia Research Institute (SARI) and served as a reviewer and member of the ANU Delegated Ethical (Research) Review Committee (Asia-Pacific and Business). In all the roles she has held and continues to hold, she takes pride in supporting ANU’s purpose “to serve society through transformational research and education.”