Professor Bhaskar Vira elected a Fellow of the Academy of Social Sciences

The Academy of Social Sciences has named Professor Bhaskar Vira a Fellow in recognition of his contribution to the field.

Professor Vira is Head of the Department of Geography, Professor of Political Economy and a Fellow of Fitzwilliam College.

He was Founding Director of the University of Cambridge Conservation Research Institute, is closely involved with the Cambridge Conservation Initiative and the Global Food Security Interdisciplinary Research Centre, and also works with the Centre for Science and Policy, Cambridge Zero and the Cambridge Institute for Sustainability Leadership.

His work examines the social, political and economic dimensions of natural resource management, and the relationship between natural ecosystems and human well-being.

Professor Vira is currently leading a programme of research on agrarian change and rural transformations in India, as part of the GCRF TIGR2ESS project. He is also convening a Department of Geography programme on Decent Work and Youth Livelihoods.

“I am truly honoured to receive this recognition by my peers and by the Academy of Social Sciences,” he said. “I am particularly grateful to generations of colleagues and students at the Department of Geography and at Fitzwilliam College, who have provided such a welcoming and nurturing environment, as well as to colleagues across the wider University, especially in the social sciences.

“It has been a privilege to work with research collaborators around the world, and their thinking and work has been a source of inspiration, for which I am very grateful. For someone who has been slightly disrespectful of disciplinary boundaries, this is also a recognition of the importance of the social sciences, and the role that they play in responding to contemporary global challenges."

For a more in-depth interview with Professor Vira, check out the forthcoming Issue 27 of Optima, which takes environmental action as its theme.