About me

Welcome! I am an environmental social scientist who researches the social impacts and governance of emerging climate and environmental technologies, particularly carbon removal. I am currently the Director of Research at American University’s Institute for Carbon Removal Law and Policy. I am also an Adjunct Professor at the Institute for Resources, Environment and Sustainability at the University of British Columbia and a Research Affiliate at the Institute for Science, Innovation and Society at the University of Oxford.

In much of my work, I collaborate with societal actors (e.g., local communities, Indigenous communities, natural scientists, the general public) on the assessment and governance of technologies needed (or posited as needed) for the climate and energy transition, particularly carbon removal technologies like direct air capture and novel ocean-based carbon removal approaches. Currently, I am involved in several projects that aim to understand coastal community priorities on marine carbon removal and governance conditions for its responsible research and deployment. I also am interested in exploring political economic arrangements for a more justice-oriented carbon removal sector. I have been part of research projects exploring the feasibility of carbon removal approaches, namely OceanNETs and Solid Carbon. I am also on the science advisory board for the Carbon-to-Sea Initiative and have served as a governance reviewer for Frontier Climate.

My research sits at the intersection of science and technology studies, political economy & ecology, and perceived risk. I am particularly interested in understanding how socio-political contexts and conditions shape judgment on novel technologies like carbon removal. I make use of a range of qualitative and quantitative methods, such as interviews, surveys and deliberative small-group workshops. My work is motivated by a fascination with both the ‘natural’ world and engineered technologies; a commitment to principles of justice, both in contexts of settler-colonial North America and across the Global North-South divide; and a curiosity about the tradeoffs often involved with decisionmaking in the context of climate change.

I conducted postdoctoral work at the University of Oxford and completed my PhD at the University of British Columbia, where my research was on social dimensions of novel biotechnology (primarily gene editing) in agriculture. You can read a summary of my PhD thesis research here. Before my PhD, I worked as a consultant at Environmental Resources Management and as a researcher at the World Resources Institute. I also have an MPhil from the University of Oxford in Development Studies and a BA from Swarthmore College in economics.

For some other information on me: I’m a queer, second-generation Bengali-American of mixed ancestry. I’m also an avid rock climber. I live on unceded Sḵwx̱wú7mesh (Squamish) and Səl̓ílwətaʔ/Selilwitulh (Tsleil-Waututh) territory.