Smriti Das

Dr. Smriti Das, an Associate Professor in the Department of Policy Studies at TERI School of Advanced Studies, has established herself as a leading expert in environmental policy and community development. Her academic journey spans over 13 years at TERI-SAS before joining XLRI Delhi as an Associate Professor of Strategic Management. Her research portfolio encompasses environmental policy, forest governance, sustainable livelihoods, and gender dynamics in resource management, with particular emphasis on marginalized communities. She employs diverse methodological approaches, including ethnographic, historical, and participatory methods, especially in her work with tribal communities. As a key researcher in the UKRI GCRF South Asian Nitrogen Hub project, she leads critical research on nitrogen pollution policies and stakeholder analysis across South Asia. Her significant contributions include comprehensive studies on gender responsiveness in forest policies, community governance in Central India's forests, and the implementation of the Forest Rights Act (2006). She has conducted pioneering research on land-water-community relationships in the mid-Ganga basin and the localization of Sustainable Development Goals in Delhi. Through her teaching and supervision of doctoral researchers, she explores various dimensions of environmental governance, including gender dynamics in forest management, community participation, and climate change integration in local governance. Her work consistently demonstrates a commitment to understanding and improving the intersection of environmental policy and community development, particularly focusing on marginalized populations and sustainable resource management.