Our Team
AKR Gobinath
Faculty of Life Sciences and Biotechnology
Dr AKR Gobinath is Senior Assistant Professor & Principal Investigator, Industrial Biotechnology Laboratory in the Faculty of Life Sciences & Biotechnology, South Asian University (SAU).. His focus areas include developing sustainable (bio)processes for the synthesis of critical chemicals and fuels can address several key issues, including climate change, greenhouse gas emissions, global warming, waste accumulation, and reliance on fossil fuels. His research team at SAU focuses on developing cost-effective, sustainable bioprocesses that ensure the full utilization of biodegradable waste, such as agro-residues and food waste, to support the production of various bioenergies (including biohydrogen, bioethanol, and biobutanol) and valuable chemicals such as butyric acid, propanediol, and functional sugars. Our holistic approach to valorizing biodegradable waste into valuable biochemicals and bioenergy can mitigate land, water, and environmental pollution, contributing to a healthier, safer, and greener planet.
Ananda Mustafiz
Faculty of Life Sciences and Biotechnology
Dr Ananda Mustafiz is an Associate Professor and the Group Leader of the Plant Molecular Biology Lab in the Faculty of Life Sciences & Biotechnology at South Asian University (SAU). He has been working in the field of abiotic stress response in the plant system. His goal is to understand and identify the basic molecular mechanism underneath abiotic stress signaling in the plant system.
Binoy Goswami
Faculty of Economics
Dr Binoy Goswami is currently an Associate Professor in the Faculty of Economics, South Asian University (SAU), New Delhi. His teaching and research interest includes agricultural economics, environmental economics, international trade and macroeconomics. His publications include one single-authored book on Assam’s agriculture and two edited books on Indian agriculture. He has published research articles in national and international journals, such as, Economic and Political Weekly, Energy, Economic Analysis and Policy, Indian Journal of Human Development, Bangladesh Development Studies, Eurasian Economic Review, Journal of Social and Economic Development, Asia Pacific Journal of Rural Development and Contemporary Economic Policy. He was awarded the Prof. M. J. Manohar Rao Award for the year 2012 for the best paper presented by young economist during the 49th Annual Conference of The Indian Econometric Society (TIES). He has been nominated as an expert on agriculture and rural development by the Centre for Integrated Rural Development for Asia and the Pacific [CIRDAP].
Camena Guneratne
Faculty of Legal Studies
Camena Guneratne obtained an LL.B from the University of Colombo, an LL.M from Harvard Law School and a PhD from the University of Waikato, New Zealand. She is currently Professor in the Dept. of Legal Studies of the Open University of Sri Lanka.
Her areas of interest are environment and development, human rights and gender and women’s rights. She has taught Environmental Law at several universities in Sri Lanka at both undergraduate and postgraduate level, and has also taught in the area of women’s rights.
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She has been involved with non-governmental organisations working in the fields of both gender and environment, serving on the Board of Directors of the Environmental Foundation Ltd, the Centre for Women’s Research and the Women’s Education and Research Centre, Transparency International Sri Lanka and the Women and Media Collective. She is currently the Chair of the Board of the Centre for Poverty Analysis. She has served on many government committees on environmental law, human rights, women’s issues and legal education, and was a member of the Law Commission of Sri Lanka, the National Advisory Committee on Climate Change, the National Committee on Women and the National Human Resources Development Council. She has undertaken consultancies for the World Food Programme, the International Labour Organisation, the Asian Development Bank and the Centre for Environmental Research, Training and Information.
She is a Fulbright scholar and recipient of the Smuts Smuts Visiting Fellowship in Commonwealth Studies at the University of Cambridge
Diya Mehra
Department of Sociology, Faculty of Social Sciences
Dr. Diya Mehra is an Assistant Professor (Senior Grade) in the Department of Sociology at South Asian University. Trained as a cultural anthropologist at the University of Texas at Austin, her research focuses on the historical and contemporary urbanization of metropolitan cities in India, metropolitan urban governance, the contemporary urbanisation of small Indian towns and rural hinterlands, and increasingly infrastructure provision in urban India, particularly in mountain environments, and in the context of climate change.
Medha Bisht
Department of International Relations, Faculty of Social Sciences
Dr Medha Bisht is an Associate Professor in the Department of International Relations and works at the intersection of water governance and diplomacy at international, transboundary and local scales. She also looks at transnational networks in International Relations (with a special focus on the water, climate and energy sectors). She has undertaken consultancies with UNIFEM, ICIMOD, UNDP, IUCN, OXFAM, DFID/Asia Foundation, University of Arizona on issues related to women and governance, water diplomacy and energy cooperation. Dr Bisht also regularly delivers lectures at the Sushma Swaraj Foreign Service Institute, Ministry of External Affairs on transboundary water issues and has participated in Track 2 and 1.5 dialogues on climate change. She is a member of regional and international working groups on transboundary rivers and climate change at ICIMOD and has led and co-led international projects on water governance and diplomacy with Dhaka University, IUCN, Uppsala University, Sweden, Oxfam, WWF (P), Lahore, IHE, Delft, Netherlands.
Rinkoo Devi Gupta
Faculty of Life Sciences and Biotechnology
Dr Rinkoo D Gupta is working as a Senior Associate Professor in the Faculty of Life Sciences and Biotechnology at South Asian University (SAU). She completed her Ph.D. in Environmental Toxicology from Banaras Hindu University. Later, as a postdoctoral fellow, she joined the Weizmann Institute of Science, in Israel, and worked on understanding the mechanism of molecular enzyme evolution and protein engineering. Since 2011 at SAU, Dr. Gupta and her research group have been exploring engineering highly efficient biocatalysts for pesticide degradation, development of enzyme-based biopesticides, and engineering monoclonal antibodies. She has published 65 research articles in peer-reviewed and high-impact journals including Nature Chemical Biology, Nature Methods, Journal of Biological Chemistry, etc. She has also obtained several extramural funding from various funding agencies.
Stellina Jolly
Faculty of Legal Studies
Dr. Stellina Jolly is a Senior Associate Professor at the Faculty of Legal Studies, South Asian University (SAU), New Delhi. She is also a Visiting Professor at Maharashtra National Law University, Mumbai. Dr. Jolly is a Fulbright Scholar with the University of San Francisco and a recipient of the prestigious International Visitors Leadership Program (IVLP). Her areas of expertise include international environmental law, focusing on the intersections of human rights, environmental justice, and climate change.
