Department of Development Studies

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Department: Department of Development Studies
Qualifications: BA in Religion, SOAS and MSc in Environment, Politics, and Development, SOAS
Subject: Development
Thesis title: The Environmental and Societal Consequences of Hydropower in High-Mountain Regions of India: A Case Study of Uttarakhand, India.
Internal Supervisors: Dr Giuseppina Siciliano & Dr Andrew Newsham

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Diva joined SOAS University of London in April 2017, where she earned a BA in Religion and an MSc in Environment, Politics, and Development.

Following her graduate studies, she worked as a Research Assistant on Dr. Andrew Newsham's Seedcorn-funded project, exploring climate change adaptation and livelihoods in the Global South. She has also served as a Project Coordinator in the Post Award team within the Research and Knowledge Exchange Department (Research and Enterprise) where she developed extensive skills in research project management, grant administration, funding processes, and organisation of conferences and workshops for ERC and AHRC-funded projects.

Most recently, she interned with wildlife conservation organisations, focusing on the Bengal Tiger and Snow Leopard. Diva’s PhD research adopts an interdisciplinary approach, combining environmental science, social science, and development studies.

Her project addresses the pressing challenges of hydropower development in eco-sensitive zones within Uttarakhand, India. Her research explores the environmental degradation, community displacement, and threats to wildlife caused due to large dam construction.

She aims to produce empirically grounded research that offers sustainable solutions tailored for mountain-appropriate development in high-altitude and ecologically sensitive ecosystems. Alongside her doctoral studies, Diva serves as a Project Administrator for Professor Catherine Hezser’s AHRC-funded project where she provides administrative and logistical support to the Principal Investigator and the collaborative research team based at the University of Marburg in Germany.

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My research interests include: Hydropower, Large Dams, and Their Impacts on Environmental Landscapes, Climate Change in High-Mountain Regions, Wildlife and Biodiversity Conservation, Marine Conservation, Deep-Sea Mining, and Bottom Trawling, Blue Carbon Initiatives