I am Chairperson, Centre for Economics, Environment and Society, Bangalore, India and Senior Fellow, World Resources Institute-India, New Delhi. I was Co-Chair, Methodological Assessment of Scenarios and Models of Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services, IPBES, United Nations, Bonn, Germany during 2014-2016 and Lead Author, Working Group III, Sixth Assessment Report of the IPCC, Geneva, Switzerland. 

Earlier I was a Professor of Ecological Economics at the Institute for Social and Economic Change, Bangalore, India. I was also a Visiting Professor/Fellow at the University of Gothenburg, Sweden; the University of Cambridge; the University of California, Santa Barbara; the University of Tokyo; University of Versailles, Paris; Maison des Sciences de L’Homme, Paris; Institute of Development Studies, Sussex; Institute of Developing Economies, Tokyo, etc.

My research areas relate to environmental economics in general and more specifically economic valuation of biodiversity and ecosystem services, sustainable use and management of natural resources, sustainable agriculture, and climate-related issues. My books include Environmental Assessments: Scenarios, Modelling and Policy (Edward Elgar, 2020); Building a Climate Resilient Economy and Society-Challenges and Opportunities (Edward Elgar, 2017); Valuing Ecosystem Services-Methodological Issues and Case Studies (Edward Elgar, 2014); Conserving and Valuing Ecosystem Services and Biodiversity-Economic, Institutional and Social Challenges (Earthscan,2009, 2011); and The Economics of Biodiversity Conservation-Valuation in Tropical Forest Ecosystems (Earthscan, 2007; Routledge, London, 2016).

I have published articles in top-rated journals such as Ecological Economics, Ecosystem Services, Nature Ecology and Evolution, and Ambio. I was Vice President of the Indian Society for Ecological Economics (INSEE) during 2016-2018 and its President during 2018-2020.

If elected I will represent South Asia, an important region of the global south where the environment-development dynamics is different from the rest of the world and needs a different approach in the practice of ecological economics. Given my wide experience, I could help expand the frontiers of the global practice of ecological economics especially among young scholars and researchers, and in addressing the emerging development and environmental challenges.