I am a Ph.D. candidate in sociocultural anthropology at the University of California, Los Angeles. My doctoral project focuses on the effects of the efflorescence of AgTech start-ups in India as private entrepreneurs aim to “repair” agriculture in the face of challenges such as climate change, liberalization in agricultural markets, and long-term environmental damage from industrialized agriculture. It aims to determine the effectiveness of market-based sustainability solutions and their effects on the lives and livelihoods of farmers facing increasing costs and decreasing profits in agriculture. Through in-depth field research, my project provides a critical understanding of the developing sociotechnical systems and helps individuals dedicated to sustainable food systems envision and advance appropriate solutions for a sustainable future. In doing so, it draws from and makes a contribution to the interdisciplinary domains of agrarian studies, science and technology studies, and the fields of anthropology that pertain to agriculture, capitalism, and the environment.

My research has been published in the Economic & Political Weekly, Scroll.in, Wire.in, The Indian Express, and India in Transition. Prior to beginning my graduate studies in 2019, I finished my B.Tech. in computer science from the Indian Institute of Technology Delhi in 2015 and my M.A. in Sociology from the Delhi School of Economics in 2018. I also worked as a Chief Minister’s Fellow in Haryana for a year (2018-19). Please see my CV here.