Diva Sinha

• PhD Candidate, Department of Development Studies, SOAS, University of London

Diva Sinha is a PhD candidate in the department of Development Studies at SOAS University of London. Her doctoral research, titled From Glaciers to Gridlines: Hydropower, Land Subsidence, Deforestation, and Biodiversity Loss in Uttarakhand's Mountain Valleys, examines the multi-dimensional impacts of large dam development in the Indian Himalayas. She combines six frameworks in her research project: Multi Species Political Ecology, Disaster Governance, Disaster Risk Reduction, Environmental Justice, Critical Institutionalism and Social-Ecological Systems frameworks along with GIS analysis, qualitative fieldwork, and community mapping to investigate how hydropower expansion and rapid urbanisation exacerbates environmental degradation, biodiversity loss, social displacement and amplifies disaster risk in Greater and Trans-Himalayan regions. Her work specifically focuses on the states of Uttarakhand, Ladakh, and Himachal Pradesh. Her research interests include energy transitions, marine and ocean conservation, climate change adaptation and mitigation strategies, disaster governance, disaster risk reduction particularly in high mountain regions and biodiversity conservation.

Alongside her research, she works as a Project Administrator for an AHRC international project. Previously, she worked as a Project Coordinator at the Research and Knowledge Exchange Department at SOAS, coordinating over 30 research projects at SOAS, supporting grant management, conferences, and research funding processes. She has also worked as a Research Assistant on SeedCorn funded climate adaptation projects and as an Intern for wildlife conservation organisations.

• –present PhD Researcher and Project Administrator Centre for Environment, Development and Policy Department of Development Studies SOAS, University of London, SOAS, University of London

• SOAS,University of London, PhD Environment and Development Studies

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