Shilpi Srivastava is a Research Fellow with the Resource Politics and Environmental Change Cluster. A political sociologist with interdisciplinary training in political science, law and governance, and development studies, Shilpi has over ten years of research experience in the field of water policy processes, access, regulation and rights to water. In her research, she uses the lens of water and climate to understand issues of power and patterns of authority to explore spaces of justice, rights and accountability. Shilpi completed her PhD in Development Studies (Sussex) and has an MA in Political Science and MPhil in Law and Governance (JNU, India).

In recent years, Shilpi’s work has increasingly focused on exploring cross-sectoral linkages and impacts across water and climate change. She draws on qualitative and participatory methods to explore the everyday encounters of marginalised communities with the changing climate as they intersect with wider issues in political economy and institutional politics. She is currently involved with projects related to uncertainty, climate change and transformation in India and Bangladesh, and off-grid sanitation in the global South. She leads a project on climate preparedness and decision-making under conditions of climatic uncertainty. Her advisory experience includes work with UNICEF, UNHCR, DFID, IDRC and BMGF.

Shilpi is the series co-editor for the Palgrave Pivot series on Global Challenges in Water Governance (April 2021 onwards). She is the co-Convenor of MA in Development Studies at IDS and is currently supervising two PhD students. She is interested in hearing from prospective doctoral students who wish to work on the cultural politics of water and climate change in South Asia.