Our Team
The team consists of a core group, a project manager, lead researchers, research staff, and an advisory team.
Project Leads
Madhura Swaminathan
Madhura Swaminathan is a former Professor and Head, Economic Analysis Unit, Indian Statistical Institute Bangalore Centre. She is one of the Trustees of the Foundation.
Gaurav Datt
Gaurav Datt is an Associate Professor in the Department of Economics and Deputy Director of the Centre for Development Economics and Sustainability, Monash University, Australia. He has over twenty years of research and operational work experience in the development sector.
Sandipan Baksi
Sandipan Baksi is the Director of the Foundation for Agrarian Studies.
Emilia Tjernström
Emilia Tjernstrom is an Associate Professor of Economics, Macquarie Business School, Australia. Her draws on insights from behavioral economics and employs econometrics, field-, and lab-in-the-field experiments to examine a variety of topics within development economics.
Sherry Jacob
Sherry Jacob is a Principal Scientist, ICAR-National Bureau of Plant Genetic Resources. She has over 15 years of experience in the conservation and management of plant genetic resources.
Research Team
Tapas Modak
Joint Director
Tapas is a Joint Director of the Foundation. He has a Ph.D. in Social Science from the Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Mumbai. His research interests include the irrigation economy of India, water policies and institutions, agricultural policy, economics of farming, and rural incomes.
Ajil Mankunnummal
Research Officer
Ajil holds an M.Phil. in Applied Economics from the Centre for Development Studies, Thiruvananthapuram, Jawaharlal Nehru University, and is in the final stages of his doctoral research. His research focuses on the impact of government regulation on the technological developments in, and performance of, the chemical fertiliser manufacturing industry in India.
Kristy Saikia
Research Officer
Kristy is a Research Officer at the Foundation. She holds a Master’s degree in Development Studies from IIT Guwahati and has previously worked with various civil society organisations. Her research interests include women and gender, rural development, and WaSH (water, sanitation, and hygiene).
Sai Chandan Kotu
Senior Research Assistant
Sai Chandan Kotu is a Senior Research Assistant at the Foundation. He holds a Master's degree in Economic Growth, Population & Development from Lund University, Sweden, and an Integrated Master's in Development Studies from Indian Institute of Technology Madras.
Harshan T. P.
Associate Research Fellow
Harshan is an Associate Research Fellow at the Foundation. He holds a Ph.D. in Social Science from the Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS), Mumbai, specialising in climate change and disaster studies. His research focuses on the socio-economic impacts of environmental shocks and disasters.
Daya Susan Thomas
Research Assistant
Daya is a Research Assistant at the Foundation. She holds a Master's degree in Applied Economics from CHRIST (Deemed to be University), Bengaluru. Her research interests include Gender and Development in Rural India.
Jose Maria Martinez Rioja
Research Fellow, Monash University
Jose is a Postdoctoral Research Fellow in the Department of Economics at Monash University. He holds a Ph.D. in Agricultural, Food, and Resource Economics (AFRE) at Michigan State University. He is interested in conducting research at the intersection of economic development, agriculture, and applied econometrics.
Advisory Team
V. K. Ramachandran
V. K. Ramachandran is a former Vice Chairperson of the Kerala State Planning Board and former Professor and Head of the Economic Analysis Unit at the Indian Statistical Institute. He is the Editor of the Review of Agrarian Studies and the Managing Trustee of the Foundation.
R. Ramakumar
R. Ramakumar is a Professor at the School of Development Studies, Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Mumbai.
P. C. Mohanan
P. C. Mohanan is Chairperson of the Kerala State Statistical Commission and a former Member of the National Statistical Commission. He retired from the Indian Statistical Service in 2015 after serving for many years in the National Sample Survey Organisation and the Central Statistical Organisation.
V. Surjit
V. Surjit is an Associate Professor and Head, Centre for Agrarian Studies, National Institute of Rural Development and Panchayati Raj, Hyderabad.
K. C. Bansal
K. C. Bansal is Former Director, ICAR-NBPGR and Adjunct Professor, Murdoch University, Australia. He serves on the board of directors of the Global Plant Council, the board of trustees of the MS Swaminathan Research Foundation, Chennai, and the research advisory council of IARI, New Delhi. He is the first recipient of the Norman Borlaug Chair, in 2010.
Sreeja Jaiswal
Sreeja Jaiswal is a Postdoctoral Researcher at Climate Economics and Policy Research Department, Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research, Germany.