Dr. Siddhartha Krishnan

Educational Qualifications:

  • Ph.D. 2004. Department of Sociology, University of Madras.
  • Masters (Sociology). 1997. Department of Sociology, University of Madras.
  • Bachelors Degree (Sociology).1995. Department of Sociology, Loyola College, Chennai.

Work Experience

  • Post Doctoral Fellow, ATREE, 2005 March to 2008 June
  • Fellow, Social Science, ATREE, 2008 June till present
  • Program Leader for the Land, Water and Livelihoods Program, ATREE

Research Studies/Projects: Past and Ongoing.

Past
  • Deforestation and Conflict in the Nilgiri Wynaad: Ph.D. study concluded in 2004. An historical sociology of agrarian transformation of forests, peasant and planter resistance.
  • Analysis of conflicts over the Recognition of Forest Rights Act (RFRA), 2006 and; an analysis of its conservation/protection potential, undertaken during post doctoral fellowship and concluded in 2008.
Ongoing
  • What does large carnivore predation of Buffalo mean to the Toda? Understanding cultural, politico-legal and ecological contexts and consequences of Toda conflicts with Tigers and Leopards on the Nilgiri Pastures, South India. Study being conducted as part of a larger Indo-Norwegian project on human-wildlife conflicts. Project ends in 2010.
  • Understanding and Mitigating Human-Wildlife Conflict in the Billigiri Rangaswamy Betta (BRT) Wild Life Sanctuary in the Context of the Recognition of Forest Rights Act, 2006. Study, along with Nitin Rai, also part of the Indo-Norwegian human-wildlife project.
  • As Co-P.I., handling policy analysis component of project Strengthening Communities and Institutions for Sustainable Management of Vembanad Backwaters, Kerala.
  • As leader of the Land, Water and Livelihoods team, involved in team study, Water Resource Use and Social and Environmental Implications: Case Studies from Vemband Wetlands and Malaprabha River Basin, South India.
  • As P.I., coordinating and participating in 'Conservation of Biodiversity and Sustainable Use of Natural Resources: Capacity Building for Interdisciplinary Research and Applications' an interdisciplinary and inter-institutional project between NORAGRIC, University of Life Sciences, Norway and ATREE.

Teaching Experience

Past
  • Taught sociological theory to Masters Students of the Department of Sociology, University of Madras, as part of Ph.D. during 2001 and 2002.
Current
  • Since 2007 teach core courses in sociology and qualitative research methods to Ph.D. scholars at ATREE
  • Offering elective in environmental sociology to Ph.D. scholars.

Publications

Peer Reviewed
  • Krishnan, S. 2009. Of Land, Legislation and Litigation: Forest Leases, Agrarian Reform, Legal Ambiguity and Landscape Anomaly in the Nilgiris, 1969 to 2007. Conservation and Society, 7(3).
  • Competing Visions: Domestic Forests, Politics and Forest Policy in Central Western Ghats of South India. Menon, Hinnewinkel, Garcia, Guillerme, Rai and Krishnan. 2009. Small Scale Forestry, 8: 515-527.
Popular
  • Open Access Editorial Reviewed: Krishnan, S (Eds).2009. 'Perspectives on the Forest Rights Act'. Current Conservation.
  • Political Monthly: Krishnan, S. (2009). 'Fighting over Forests'. Himal South Asian. January.

Conferences Attended and Papers Presented In

  • International Conference on 'Sustainable Forest Management and Poverty Alleviation: Roles of Traditional Forest-related Knowledge', 17 to 20 December, 2007, Kunming, China.
  • 'Nature, Knowledge and Power', International conference held in Uppsala, Sweden, 15 to 17 August 2008, organized by SASNET, the Swedish Agricultural University and Uppsala University.
  • 'Livelihoods and the Environment: Debating Interdisciplinary Perspectives', Workshop held at JNU, New Delhi and organized by the Centre for Policy Studies and SASNET, June 15 to 16, 2009.