Research Associate

King's College London - Department of Geography

About the role

This 4-year Research Associate position sits within the European Research Council project ‘AdaptAIR: Climate Adaptation through Artificial Ice Reservoirs in the Himalayas’. This project explores the social, cultural and environmental context of the deployment of Artificial Ice Reservoirs (AIRS) as water management tools in the Himalayan cold desert regions, in the context of rapidly retreating glaciers. The project combines high-resolution climate, glacier and hydrological modelling with approaches from anthropology, history and critical agrarian studies to understand water use and agrarian change in the region, and how AIRs affect this.

This role will explore the complex institutional context of water and climate change governance in the Himalayas, from the village to Federal level, using a combination of documentary analysis and interviews. This will include the role of knowledge-generating agencies, for example, institutions sitting within the Indian Ministry of Earth Sciences. You will develop an institutional map, which will be used to explore how AIRs are shaped by and impact upon the existing institutional landscape. You will study power, networks and shifting discourses in the promotion of AIRs, and envisage alternative forms of knowledge production. You will also collaborate with post docs working on rural, grounded analysis of recipient villages to build a broader understanding of institutions across scales. Researching literature on vulnerability, the history of governance and policymaking in Northwest India, political economy of the Indian state and science and technology studies, will be important in designing and carrying out these tasks.

You will be supervised by, and work closely with, PIs George Adamson and Nithya Natarajan at King’s College London, as well as colleagues in the School of Public Policy at IIT Delhi, and scientists and anthropologists in the UK and Canada. You will be based in London but will require fieldwork in India and possibly Nepal. Your work will contribute directly to the aims of AdaptAIR, and you will have be encouraged to develop your own research agenda.

This is a full time, and you will be offered a fixed term contract for 4 years.

About you

We are looking for candidates to have the following skills and experience:

Essential criteria

1. PhD qualified in geography, international development, political economy, science and technology studies, or a related area, or PhD near completion
2. Knowledge of current literature on social vulnerability, resilience and adaptation to climate change
3. Fluency in English and Hindi
4. Experience of research in a Global South context
5. Excellent communication skills, including the ability to write for publication, present research findings at conferences, and represents the research team at meetings
6. Ability to take responsibility for personal time management and work proactively and independently to ensure that relevant objectives and milestones are met
7. Ability to work as part of an international, interdisciplinary team

Desirable criteria

1. Ability to work across quantitative and qualitative disciplines
2. Direct experience of working on climate or water governance in South Asia
3. Experience of working in the Himalayas
4. Knowledge of at least one regional language (for example Ladakhi, or the regional languages of the Spiti Valley in India or Mustang Valley in Nepal)