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Ashwini Chhatre
Associate Professor, Economics and Public Policy
Chair - IRB; Executive Director - BIPP
Email ashwini_chhatre@isb.edu
Website https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=5VNx4fAAAAAJ
Overview
Ashwini Chhatre is an interdisciplinary scholar with research interests broadly centred on the dynamic cross-scale interactions between governance, economic development, and environmental protection. Ashwini relocated to India from the US in 2014 to serve on the faculty at the Indian School of Business, Hyderabad. He spent 13 years in the US, five of which were in Graduate School at Duke University, where he was awarded a Ph.D. in Political Science. Ashwini was the first Giorgio Ruffolo Post-doctoral Fellow in Sustainability Science at Harvard University in 2006-07, before joining the faculty in the Department of Geography and Geographic Information Science at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Between his BA in Economics from University of Delhi in 1990 and the start of PhD at Duke, Ashwini spent 11 years working in different parts of India, mostly as a community organizer and social activist working on issues related to natural resources like land, forests, and water. A background in Economics, graduate training in Political Science, and long-standing engagement with scholarship in Geography, Anthropology, Landscape Ecology, and Environmental History ensure that his research will never be confined to a single discipline! Ashwini’s main research interests lie in the study of the intersection of democracy with environment and development, with a focus on decentralized forest governance, climate change vulnerability and adaptation, and multifunctional agriculture. Over the last 20 years, the scope of this research projects have covered the entire spectrum from household-level to global analysis, and have continuously bridged research, policy, and practice. Ashwini was the founding Editor-in-Chief of World Development Perspectives during 2016-19, served as the Senior Editor of Conservation Letters during 2009-2014, and his research has been published as one book and several articles in Science, PNAS, and other leading journals. He currently serves as the Executive Director of Bharti Institute of Public Policy at the Indian School of Business while serving on its faculty as an Associate Professor of Public Policy.
Grants
Department of Biotechnology, Government of India, and Dutch Research Council (NWO) - Bright spots of climate-smart agriculture: Learning from high-performing farming systems
Experience
Academic
- 2019 - Present: Chair-IRB, Indian School of Business
- 2017 - Present: Executive Director, Bharti Institute of Public Policy, Indian School of Business
- 2017 - Present: Associate Professor of Public Policy, Indian School of Business
- 2015 - Present: Adjunct Professor,Department of Geography and Geographic Information Science, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
- 2017 - 2019: Executive Director, Digital Identity Research Initiative, Indian School of Business
- 2014 - 2017: Senior Research Fellow and Visiting Professor, Indian School of Business
- 2013 - 2015: Associate Professor,Department of Geography and Geographic Information Science, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
- 2011 - 2015: Affiliate Faculty, Program in Ecology,Evolution,and Conservation Biology, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
- 2009 - 2015: Faculty Fellow, Beckman Institute for Advanced Science and Technology, University of Illinois at Urbana
- 2007 - 2013: Assistant Professor,Department of Geography, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
- 2010 - 2011: Associate Fellow,Center for Advanced Study, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
- 2006 - 2007: Giorgio Ruffolo Post-doctoral Fellow in Sustainability Science,Center for International Development, Kennedy School of Government,Harvard University
Professional
- 2015 - 2018: Editor-in-Chief, World Development Perspectives
- 2014 - 2017: Director of Research, Revitalizing Rainfed Agriculture Network, India
- 2009 - 2014: Senior Editor, Conservation Letters
In the Media
January 4, 2023: Meet focussed on facets of public policy, road ahead opens, The Hindu.
December 22, 2022: ISB hosts meet on sustainable forest economy, The Hindu.
December 13, 2022: MoA&FW to collaborate with ISB-led consortium in agriculture-nutrition, Plunge Daily.
December 4, 2022: ISB, Odisha Govt Ink Pact For Women’s Empowerment & Rural Prosperity, Pragati Vadi.
November 15, 2022: Forests of the future: A national economic opportunity., Forbes.
November 7, 2022: Can marketing wild produce rejuvenate India’s forests?, Ecobusiness.
October 20, 2022: ISB joins forces with AAK for a Sustainable Forest Economy., The Pioneer.
October 6, 2022: Phantom Forests: Why Ambitious Tree Planting Projects Are Failing, e360.yale.
September 26, 2022: The forest economy must be nurtured., The Hindu Business Line.
September 20, 2022: Indian School of Business's innovation, taking markets to remote villages to strengthen forest economy, Jagran.
September 17, 2022: From e-commerce to fuel, how forests can foster a carbon-neutral future., The Economic Times.
December 30, 2021: ISB, Jharkhand govt to work on boosting forest economy, Times of India.
October 21, 2020: Forests: A Profitable Restoration Mantra, Business Line.
September 29, 2020: Biodiversity Challenged in K'taka's Coffee Belts, The Economics Times.
September 29, 2020: Labour Shortage May Hit Biodiversity in Western Ghats: Study, The Tiimes of India.
September 27, 2020: Brew and biodiversity: Over to small coffee farmers, The New Indian EXpress.
September 25, 2020: Indian School of Business holds the first Open Data Conclave; keynote addresses by Durga Prasad Misra, India Education Diary.
August 26, 2020: Local comunities can help curb climate change:Study, Deccan Chronicle, Hyderabad.
August 26, 2020: 300 million world over can have their forests restored:Study, The Hindu, Hyderabad.
August 26, 2020: Empower local communities for extensive forest restoration and climate change mitigation: Study, News Chant.
August 26, 2020: Empower local communities for extensive forest restoration and climate change mitigation: Study, News Today.
August 26, 2020: Empower local communities for extensive forest restoration and climate change mitigation: Study, The Indian Express.
August 25, 2020: Empower local communities for extensive forest restoration and climate change mitigation: Study, The Indian Express.
August 25, 2020: ‘Empower local communities for effective & extensive forest restoration and climate change mitigation’ : Global Study, India Education Diary.
August 25, 2020: Restoring The World’s Forests Requires Partnering With Local Communities, Scienmag.
August 14, 2020: ISB Launches Web Portal On Economic Data, Deccan Chronicle.
August 8, 2020: BSchools want students to solve India's chronic problems, The Times of India.
June 11, 2020: Rebooting India, CNN News18.
June 1, 2020: Hitting Restart, The New Indian Express.
March 23, 2019: Omidyar Network: Doing good is the b, Fortune India.
August , 2019: Less Rice, Please! The Food Solution for Climate Resilience, ISBInsight.
November 12, 2018: Enrolment mostly covered, UIDAI to focus on updates, Hindustan Times.
November 1, 2018: An imaginary friend, The Indian Express.
October 6, 2018: ISB, Tenure Facility work with forest Communitiesto collect data, The Times of India.
July 16, 2018: Aadhaar Has Helped Indian Government To Save Rs. 90,000 Crore: UIDAI, Dazeinfo Briefs.
June , 2016: Impact of climatic conditions on GDP, ISB Insight.
July , 2016: Crop diversification to reduce exposure to climatic changes: Associated risks and mitigation strategies, ISB Insight.
July , 2016: Climate and society: Beyond general circulation models, ISB Insight.
July , 2015: Impact of motivational crowding in sustainable development interventions, ISB Insight.
July , 2014: Global drivers of the uneven expansion of renewable energy, ISB Insight.
Research & Publications
Published Papers
Singh, Deepti., Karambelas, Alexandra., Chhatre, Ashwini., DeFries, Ruth., Kinney, Patrick., Davis, Kyle. (2021) "A systems lens to evaluate the compound human health impacts of anthropogenic activities", One Earth , 4 (9), 1233-1247 Fischer, Harry., Chhatre, Ashwini., Devalkar, Sripad., Sohoni, Milind. (2021) "Rural institutions, social networks, and self-organized adaptation to climate change", Environmental Research Letters , 16 (10), 104002 Gupta, Divya., Fischer, Harry., Shreshtha, Suchita., Shoaib Ali, Syed., Chhatre, Ashwini., Devkota, Kamal., Fleischman, Forrest., Khatri, Dil B., Rana, Pushpendra. (2021) "Dark and bright spots in the shadow of the pandemic: Rural livelihoods, social vulnerability, and local governance in India and Nepal", World Development , 141, 105370 Fleischman, Forrest., Basant, Shishir., Chhatre, Ashwini., Coleman, Eric., Fischer, Harry., Gupta, Divya., Güneralp, Burak., Kashwan, Prakash., Khatri, Dil., Muscarella, Robert., Powers, Jennifer., Ramprasad, Vijay., Rana, Pushpendra., Solorzano, Claudia., Veldman, Joseph. (2020) "Pitfalls of Tree Planting Show Why We Need People-Centered Natural Climate Solutions", Bioscience , 70 (11), 947-950 Chhatre, Ashwini., Gokpinar, Bilal., Bhardwaj, Deepanshi. (2020) "Service Providers and Technology Adoption : Evidence from Aadhaar Enabled Payment System in India", Robbins, Paul., Tripurareni, Vaishnavi., Karanth, Krithi., Chhatre, Ashwini. (2020) "Coffee, trees, and labor: Political economy of biodiversity in commodity agroforests", Annals of the American Association of Geographers , 111 (4), 1046-1061 Erbaugh, James., Pradhan, Nabin., Adams, James., Oldekop, Johan., Agrawal, Arun., Brockington, Daniel., Pritchard, Rose., Chhatre, Ashwini. (2020) "Global Forest Restoration and the Importance of Prioritizing Local Communities", Nature Ecology and Evolution , 4, 1472-1476 Gassner, Anja., Dobie, Philip., Harrison, Rhett., Vidal, Adriana., Somarriba, Eduardo., Pythoud, Francois., Kumar, Chetan., Laumonier, Yves., Chhatre, Ashwini. (2020) "Making the post-2020 global biodiversity framework a successful tool for building biodiverse, inclusive, resilient and safe food systems for all", Environmental Research Letters , 15, 101001 Brockington, Daniel., Adams, William., Agarwal, Bina., Agrawal, Arun., Büscher, Bram., Chhatre, Ashwini. (2019) "Working governance for working land (letter)", Science , 362 (6420), 1257 Li, Lingchao., Chhatre, Ashwini., Liu, Jinlong. (2019) "Multi-scale Drivers and Multiple Pathways to China's Forest Transition", Forect Policy and Economics , 106 Kyle Frankel, Davis., Chhatre, Ashwini., Ghosh-Jerath, Suparna., Mridul, Anvi., Poblete-Cazenave, Miguel., Pradhan, Nabin., Rao, Narasimha D.., Singh, Deepti., DeFries, Ruth. (2019) "Assessing the sustainability of post-Green Revolution cereals in India", Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences , 116 (50), 25034-25041 Matthew R., Smith., DeFries, Ruth., Chhatre, Ashwini., Ghosh-Jerath, Suparna., S Myers, Samuel. (2019) "Zinc deficiency in India estimated from dietary intake: Past, present, and future", Food and Nutrition Bulletin , 40 (1), 26-40 Kyle Frankel, Davis., Chhatre, Ashwini., Rao, Narasimha D., Singh, Deepti., DeFries, Ruth. (2019) "Sensitivity of grain yields to historical climate variability in India", Environmental Research Letters , 14 Davis, Kyle., Chiarelli, Davide., Rulli, Maria., Chhatre, Ashwini., Richter, Brian., Singh, Deepti., DeFries, Ruth. (2018) "Alternative cereals can improve water use and nutrient supply in India", Science Advances , 4 (7), eaao1108 DeFries, Ruth., Chhatre, Ashwini., Davis, Kyle., Dutta, Arnab., Fanzo, Jessica., Jerath, Suparna., Myers, Samuel., Rao, Narasimha., Smith, Matthew. (2018) "Opportunities to reduce iron deficiency anemia from re-introducing coarse cereals in the Indian diet", Food and Nutrition Bulletin , 39 (3), 377-392 Chhatre, Ashwini., Lakhanpal, Shikha., Prasanna, Satya. (2017) "Heritage as weapon: Contested geographies of conservation and culture in the Great Himalayan National Park Conservation Area, India", Annals of the American Association of Geographers , 107 (2), 456-464 Rana, Pushpendra., Chhatre, Ashwini. (2017) "Beyond Committees: Hybrid Forest Governance for Equity and Sustainability", Forest Policy and Economics , 78 (1), 40-50 Fischer, Harry., Chhatre, Ashwini. (2017) "Assets, livelihoods, and the ‘profile approach’for analysis of differentiated social vulnerability in the context of climate change", Environment and Planning A , 48 (4), 789-807 Li, Lingchao., Liu, Jinlong., Cheng, Baodong., Chhatre, Ashwini., Dong, Jiayun., Liang, Wenyuan. (2017) "Effects of economic globalization and trade on", The Forestry Chronicle , 93 (2), 171-179 Chhatre, Ashwini., Devalkar, Sripad., Seshadri, Sridhar. (2016) "Crop Diversification and Risk Management in Indian Agriculture", Decision , 43 (2), 167-179 Rana, Pushpendra., Chhatre, Ashwini. (2016) "Rules and exceptions: Regulatory challenges to private tree felling in northern India", World Development , 77, 143-153 Chhatre, Ashwini., Devalkar, Sripad., Seshadri, Sridhar. (2016) "Crop diversification and risk management in Indian agriculture", Decision , 43 (2), 167-179 Songsermsawas, Tisorn., Baylis, Kathy., Chhatre, Ashwini., Michelson, Hope. (2016) "Can peers improve agricultural revenue?", World Development , 83, 163–178 Karanth, Krithi., Sankararaman, Vishnupriya., Dalvi, Shashank., Srivathsa, Arjun., Parameshwaran, Ravishankar., Sharma, Sushma., Robbins, Paul., Chhatre, Ashwini. (2016) "Producing diversity: Avian richness and abundance in Agroforests of India’s Western Ghats", Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution Robbins, Paul., Chhatre, Ashwini., Karanth, Krithi. (2015) "Political ecology of commodity agroforests and tropical biodiversity", Conservation Letters , 8 (2), 77–85 Agrawal, Arun., Chhatre, Ashwini., Gerber, Elisabeth. (2015) "Motivational Crowding in Sustainable Development Interventions", American Political Science Review , 109 (3), 470-487 Sivapalan, M., Konar, M., Srinivasan, V., Chhatre, Ashwini., Wutich, A., Scott, C.A., Wescoat, J.L., Rodríguez-Iturbe.I. (2014) "Socio-hydrology:Use-inspired water sustainability science for the Anthropocene", Earth’s Future , 2, 225 – 230 Harry, Fischer., Chhatre, Ashwini. (2013) "Environmental Citizenship,Gender,and the Emergence of a New Conservation Politics", Geoforum , 50, 10-19 Chhatre, Ashwini., Lakhanpal, Shikha., Larson, Anne., Nelson, Fred., Ojha, Hemant., Rao, Jagdeesh. (2012) "Social Safeguards and Co-benefits in REDD A Review of the Adjacent Possible", Current Opinion in Environmental Sustainability , 4 (6), 654-660 Agrawal, Arun., Perrin, Nicolas., Benson, Catherine., Chhatre, Ashwini., Kononen, Minna. (2012) "Climate Policy Processes, Local Institutions,and Adaptation Actions:Mechanisms of Translation and Influence", WIREs Climate Change , 3 (6), 565-579 Agrawal, Arun., Chhatre, Ashwini. (2011) "Strengthening Causal Inference through Qualitative Analysis of Regression Residuals:Explaining Forest Governance in the Indian Himalaya", Environment and Planning A , 43 (2), 328-346 Persha, Lauren., Agrawal, Arun., Chhatre, Ashwini. (2011) "Social and Ecological Synergy:Local Rulemaking,Forest Livelihoods,and Biodiversity Conservation", Science , 331, 1606-1608 Agrawal, Arun., Nepstad, Daniel., Chhatre, Ashwini. (2011) "Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation", Annual Review of Environment and Resources , 373-396 Agrawal, Arun., Chhatre, Ashwini. (2011) "Against mono-consequentialism: Multiple outcomes and their drivers in social-ecological systems", Global Environmental Change , 21 (1), 1-3 Persha, Lauren., Fischer, Harry., Chhatre, Ashwini., Agrawal, Arun., Benson, Catherine. (2010) "Biodiversity Conservation and Livelihoods in Human-Dominated Landscapes:Forest Commons in South Asia", Biological Conservation , 143 (12), 2918-2925 Chhatre, Ashwini., Agrawal, Arun. (2009) "Synergies and Trade-offs between Carbon Storage and Livelihood Benefits from Forest Commons", Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences , 106, 17667-17670 Chhatre, Ashwini., Persha, Lauren., Hemant, Hemant. (2009) "Community Forestry in Nepal:A Policy Innovation for Local Livelihoods", International Food Policy Research Institute Discussion Paper Chhatre, Ashwini., Agrawal, Arun. (2008) "Forest Commons and Local Enforcement", Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences , 105 (36), 13286-13291 Chhatre, Ashwini. (2008) "Political Articulation and Accountability in Decentralization:Theory and Evidence from India", Conservation and Society , 6 (1), 12-21 Jesse, Ribot., Chhatre, Ashwini., Lankina, Tomila. (2008) "Institutional Choice and Recognition in the Formation and Consolidation of Local Democracy", Conservation and Society , 6 (1), 1-11 Agrawal, Arun., Chhatre, Ashwini., Hardin, Rebecca. (2008) "Changing Governance of World’s Forests", Science , 320, 1460-62 Agrawal, Arun., Chhatre, Ashwini. (2007) "Institutions, Co-Governance, and Forests in the Indian Himalayas", Comparative Studies in International Development , 42 (1-2), 67-86 Chhatre, Ashwini., Saberwal, Vasant. (2006) "Democracy,Development,and (Re-)Visions of Nature:Rural Conflicts in the Western Himalayas", Journal of Peasant Studies , 33 (4), 687:706 Chhatre, Ashwini., Agrawal, Arun. (2006) "Explaining Success on the Commons: Community Forest Governance in the Indian Himalayas", World Development , 34 (1), 149-166 Chhatre, Ashwini., Saberwal, Vasant. (2005) "Political Incentives for Biodiversity Conservation", Conservation Biology , 19 (2), 310-317 Chhatre, Ashwini. (2003) "Territorialization, Resistance,and the Mirage of Permanent Boundaries", Himalayan Research Bulletin , 21 (2), 15-25 Saberwal, Vasant., Chhatre, Ashwini. (2003) "Parbati and the Tragopan: Conservation and Development in the Great Himalayan National Park", Himalayan Research Bulletin , 21 (2), 79-88 Chhatre, Ashwini. (2003) "The Mirage of Permanent Boundaries: Politics of Forest Reservation in the Western Himalayas, 1875-97", Conservation and Society , 1 (1), 137-159 Gadgil, Madhav., Rao, P.R. Sheshagiri., Ghate, Utkarsh., Pramod, P., Chhatre, Ashwini. (2000) "New Meanings for Old Knowledge: The People’s Biodiversity Registers Programme", Ecological Applications , 10 (5), 1307-1317 Chhatre, Ashwini. (1996) "A Socio-ecological Basis for Natural Resource Management: The Forest Bill Debate", Economic and Political Weekly , 31 (18), 1084-1090 Chhatre, Ashwini. (1994) "Missing the Woods as well as the Trees", Economic and Political Weekly , 29 (38), 2473-74
Books and Monographs
Lakhanpal, Shikha., Chhatre, Ashwini. (2018) "For the Environment, Against Conservation: Conflict between biodiversity protection and renewable energy in India", Earthscan Publications Persha, Lauren., Chhatre, Ashwini., Agrawal, Arun., Ostrom, Elinor. (2012) "Managing Forest Commons in Africa", Oxford University Press Ojha, Hemant., Persha, Lauren., Chhatre, Ashwini. (2009) "Seeing the Forest through the Trees:Community Forestry", Washington DC: International Food Policy Research Institute Chhatre, Ashwini., Saberwal, Vasant. (2006) "Democratizing Nature:Politics,Conservation,and Development in India", Oxford; New Delhi:Oxford University Press Chhatre, Ashwini. (1997) "Towards a Pro-people Forest Legislation: The Forest Bill Campaign", Experiences of Advocacy in Environment and Development. Lucknow, India: Development Support Initiative. Chhatre, Ashwini. (1996) "Joint Forest Management: Beyond the Rhetoric.", Drafting a People's Forest Bill: The Forest Dweller-Social Activist Alternative. New Delhi: Indian Social Institute.
Conference Proceedings
Chhatre, Ashwini., Songsermsawas, Tisorn., Baylis, Katherine. (2015) "Effects of Peers on Agricultural Productivity in Rural Northern India", Agricultural and Applied Economics Association Chhatre, Ashwini., Agrawal, Arun. (2010) "Reply to Ternström et al.:Challenges of studying multiple outcomes simultaneously", Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences , 107 (E53)
Working Papers
Agrawal, Arun., Chhatre, Ashwini., Gerber, Elisabeth., Kurli, Varnitha. "Material Incentives in Sustainable Development Interventions: Evidence for Skepticism" Gorti, Sanjana., Mahanti, Ahaana., Shankar, Raj Krishnan., Seshadri, D.V.R.., Chhatre, Ashwini., Javadekar, Prachee. "Mahindra Sanyo Special Steel: Addressing Climate Change through the Strategic Science-based targets" Chhatre, Ashwini., Deo, Sarang., Pradhan, Nabin. "Heterogenous climate impacts across the yield distribution of monsoon rice in India" Deepti, Singh., Karambelas, Alexandra., Davis, Kyle., Chhatre, Ashwini., Kinney, Patrick., DeFries, Ruth. "Compounding human health impacts of climate change, air quality and agricultural activities" Harry, Fischer., Agrawal, Arun., Chhatre, Ashwini., Duddu, Apurva., Pradhan, Nabin. "Joint distribution of multiple benefits from forest commons" Karanth, Krithi., Srivathsa, A., Sankararaman, V., Dalvi, S., Parameshwaran, R., Sharma, S., Robbins, Paul., Chhatre, Ashwini. "Diversity Amidst Production: Amphibian Richness andDistribution Patterns in India’s Commodity Agroforests" Chhatre, Ashwini., Deuskar, Prachi., Mohib, Javed., Bhardwaj, Deepanshi. "Financial inclusion helps rural households address climate risk"