Location: Dehradun/New York
Linkedin : https://www.linkedin.com/in/rupinder-bakhshi/
FB: https://www.facebook.com/rupinder.bakshi.10
Q. Tell us about your School and College before you came to IIFM. How was your experience there? And how did IIFM happen?
A. I grew up in a small town in Punjab and became tuned into environmental concerns through my school by participating in cleanliness and tree planting drives, and exploring the Himalayas on various trekking expeditions. My school had a program called the International Award for Young People (IAYP), through which I was able to participate in and develop an appreciation for community service and environmental conservation. I went on to study computer engineering for my undergraduate degree. I had known for a while that I wanted to work on issues of social and environmental significance, but I didn’t quite know how to move in that direction. While I was still at engineering college, knowing my interests, a friend pointed me to the IIFM PGDFM program as she prepared for MBA entrance exams. For the next two years, while working in IT (Infosys), I informed myself more about the program ( and devotedly read many issues of Down to Earth ) as I contemplated this career transition. I finally joined the program in 2012 and haven’t looked back since, though computer programming continues to be a handy skill for my current research.
At IIFM, I was formally introduced to diverse aspects of environmental conservation and management in India. The coursework, fieldtrips and interactions with faculty and peers greatly expanded my horizons. I remember being profoundly affected by our first field trip to the central Indian landscape when we visited remote adivasi settlements, miles away from the nearest road. It allowed us to witness first-hand, the complexities of issues such as village relocation out of some Protected areas. These formative experiences have played a part in shaping my positions and views on complex conservation issues.
Q. How has your journey been since your time at IIFM ?
A. My growing interest in sustainable development and conservation lead me to undertake a two month internship with WWF-India and I eventually accepted a job there, via campus placement. For the next four years, I worked as a senior project officer at WWF-India in villages around Corbett Tiger Reserve and Rajaji National Park in Uttarakhand. My work was largely focused on co-developing and testing solutions to manage human wildlife conflict and advancing community stewardship of natural resources, and I gained valuable hands-on experience in engaging with diverse stakeholders and interest groups including village communities and leaders and government departments towards advancing evidence-based conservation. During this time, I gained valuable skills in project management and execution in unpredictable and dynamic field settings. My time at WWF-India also brought more opportunities of travel and exposure to conservation issues in diverse geographies. As time passed, there was also a growing realization of the need to upgrade my skillsets to continue in my chosen career and to contribute better to the complex issues at the interface of people and nature. With encouragement from friends and peers I applied for the Fulbright scholarship program and was fortunately able to join Duke University’s Masters in Environmental Management (MEM) (2018-20). My time at Duke and in the Fulbright Program was very enriching and transformative – not only did I have an opportunity to study with and access to, exceptional teachers and resources of learning but I also grew in confidence. At the end of this program, I felt very motivated to continue my academic journey – and gain depth in research methods and theory in applied ecology, conservation and environmental social sciences. I was thrilled to receive a fellowship to join the PhD program Columbia University (in 2020). My advisor at Columbia, Dr. Ruth De Fries, is an environmental geographer and has been focused on environmental sustainability research in Central India and elsewhere.
Q. How has been your experience in your current Organization? What all areas have you been working here?
A. I am currently a final-year PhD candidate at Columbia University. My doctoral research is focused on evaluating socio-ecological outcomes of management of forested and non-forested commons. My research interests span diverse disciplines including remote sensing applications, spatial analysis, environmental social sciences, conservation biology and landscape ecology. Specifically, my dissertation is focused on developing methods to map invasive species in village commons around Kanha National Park and evaluating outcomes of Forest Rights Act implementation in Narmada District of Gujarat.
Q. What is the most satisfying part in your career?
A. I feel content that I am able to make professional and personal choices that are aligned with my values and world view, to a large extent.
Q. Has your learning at IIFM helped in shaping how you approach your professional roles?
A. Undoubtedly! The breadth of exposure to issues and themes of social and environmental significance re-oriented my professional and academic journey. The issues that piqued my interests and influences gained as a student at IIFM, continue to serve as guide posts subsequently.
At the time, where else could one have spent their days listening to IFS officers like Professor Dharni and Professor Abhay Patil about forest management history, laws and policies governing Indian forests, taught with wit and humor, or hear Prof Ashish David, Professor Advait Edgaonkar and Professor Yogesh Dubey talk about philosophy of science, research methodologies and environmental policies, again with a dose of dry humour and reality checks and learn from Professor Chinmaya Singh Rathore (CSR), teaching you hard technical skills of data science, remote sensing and GIS with profound lessons on ‘digital divide’, need of democratizing technology; differences between knowledge and wisdom; ethics and morality and use of ‘higher order principles’ in making ethical choices in life and career.
We are now surrounded by conversations on open source software, data and knowledge systems and I often think to myself, that I first heard it many years ago (13!) from Prof. CSR. Amazing how he was quietly sowing seeds of such progressive ideas of knowledge and learning in us without making much ado about it.
Q. Who (or what) are the biggest influences or drivers in your careers? What would be your advice to freshers and IIFM graduates who are looking to choose similar sectors/roles.
A. There are several. My choices, values and intellectual pursuits have been shaped by many friends, teachers, peers, colleagues and of course experiences over the years. At IIFM specifically, I was influenced by several faculty members and felt the most affected by Dr Chinmaya Singh Rathore for his deep commitment to mentoring students, his humility, and generosity of time and all the things I said above. At Duke, I learned a lot from Professor John Poulsen and Prof Dean Urban, and I have also been fortunate to have found inspiring mentors through my PhD program.
Then there were my friends and co-workers (Anne-Marie Boyer, Harshad Karandikar and Pranav Chanchani, in particular), who showed a lot of confidence in my work and abilities and encouraged (and supported) me to dream of a Fulbright scholarship and continuing my academic journey.
My advice to IIFM graduates would be to not be afraid to pursue interests and paths that you gravitate towards, even if they seem out of reach at the time. Realizing such dreams needs investment of time and energy but our efforts can fructify, with persistence.
Q. What are your favorite memories during your IIFM days?
A. I found the field trips to be very enriching. I will also forever cherish my summer internship experience in Arunachal Pradesh with Amit Naskar, Nershwen and Shantanu Choudhary. I loved the courses I took with Dr. CSR, Dr. Yogesh Dubey, Dr. Ashish David and Prof. Dharni. I fondly remember many friends and peers from my batch including Sahil, Shantanu Tiwari, Nakul, Mishra ji (Vivek Mishra), Sherin, Sprih, Aryasilpa and Parasuram. Some others I am still well connected to day to day including Sireesh, Sushant, Shashank and Manoj and count on while making professional decisions.
Q. As an alumni, what’s your advice to freshers or those are joining IIFM to get best out of the 2 years there?
A. To anyone embarking on a new journey, especially in the academic sphere, I would advise not be afraid of trying new things, especially things that seem difficult or intimidating. Learning something new can make us feel stupid, inadequate and even scared. Embrace that feeling and don’t run away from it. Invest time in learning hard skills, avenues of learning go beyond syllabi and coursework as the modes of open source learning are at our feet now, more than ever. Whether one is at IIFM, Duke or Columbia, a large part of learning is self-learning. So make the most of the curriculum, faculty and alumni interactions and seek the rest from global open source avenues.
Q. What would be your advice for recent graduates who look for changing their sector after working for couple of years?
A. I think learning is a lifelong pursuit whether through books or experiences. Our skills and intellect can’t and shouldn’t be static. If one wants to continue contributing significantly to the work they do, whatever the work may be, one needs to frequently reinvent themselves and not get too comfortable in what we know and have learned. Introspect and find where your sense of satisfaction and idea of success lies. The path to it is hardly linear and neither is the feeling of having achieved it, final.
Q. What was your typical day at the work? And how does it look like while you are on a break?
A. For last several months I have been doing field work in India. So a typical day has been getting up early, heading to villages with my interns to conduct social surveys. Once back at university, the coming months will entail long hours of reading, writing and analyzing data, and frequent interactions with my academic mentors.
Breaks in India involve being outdoors with family and dogs, and travel with my partner. In the US, when time permits, breaks involve exploring the city, visiting museums, and catching some live (music, theater etc.) event with friends or often by myself.
Q. IIFM is driven by alumni’s passion and commitments towards its goal. How would you like to contribute to IIFM or IIFM alumni, students?
A. I could talk to students interested in pursuing higher education in the US or those looking to work in conservation in India or those with research interest in themes I underlined earlier.
Q. What do you think is different at IIFM now vs when you studied there? When was the last time you visited IIFM?
A. I briefly visited IIFM two years ago and did not spend enough to comment on this. I did feel the scale of program in terms of specializations offered and number of students has increased a lot from before. I hope it continues to be accessible to the diverse socio-economic backgrounds it brought to the mix before. I found that to be a novel strength of the institution.
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