International Collaborations:

• Sakura Science Program fund by the Japan Science and Technology Agency (JST) (https://ssp.jst.go.jp/en/)

Onsite training in Japan (22nd-28th August 2022)

Prof. Sailaja Nandigama, Dept. of Humanity and Social Sciences, BITS Pilani is one of the collaborators of this training. Under this program, four PhD scholars and Prof. Nandigama will be working on field survey and group work on “Environmental-friendly agriculture and regional development in the islands of Hiroshima”. The University of Texas at Austin, USA and Tribhuvan University, Nepal will be also joining with the participants from BITS Pilani and Hiroshima University, Japan.

PhD scholars accompanying Prof. Nandigama from India include- Ms. Aayushi Malhotra, Mr. Mayuresh Vijay Bhise, Ms. Ruchika Sharma, and Ms. Shruti Majumdar from the HSS department.

• ILDP-JAPAN (TAOYAKA Programme) two semester long academic collaboration between BITS Pilani, Pilani Campus with Hiroshima University- Japan, University of Texas at Austin (UT), USA & Tribhuvan University, Nepal. (2020-21).

Theme: “Perception towards and adaptation to climate change by family/small farms in Americas and Asia”

Description: As a lead professor from the BITS Pilani, Pilani Campus in this Global Virtual Exchange (GVE) sponsored multi-country academic training programme, I am leading and mentoring a team of 6 PhD scholars from the Humanities and Social Sciences (HSS), from the BITS Pilani, Pilani campus. The PhD scholars participated in 2 semester long virtual exchange programme along with other international participants from Japan, USA and Nepal.

The PhD scholars are: Ms. Aayushi Malhotra, Mr. Mayuresh Vijay Bhise, Ms. Ruchika Sharma, Ms. Neetika Mahajan, Ms. Anjali Punia and Ms. Merylin Das.

Refer to the following weblinks for related information:

https://taoyaka.hiroshima-u.ac.jp/english/education-program/onsite-education.html

https://www.bits-pilani.ac.in/news/

https://global.utexas.edu/special-initiatives/virtual-exchange

• Prof. Nandigama have been elected as a member of Nominations Committee (2021-2023) of the Association for Environmental Studies and Sciences (AESS), USA. Weblink: https://aessonline.org/2021-election-results/

• Prof. Sailaja is a member of Association for Environmental Studies and Sciences (AESS), USA & Development Studies Association (DSA), UK.

•  Prof. Sailaja Nandigama published a ‘Joint Special Issue with the Journal of International Women’s Studies (JIWS, a Scopus indexed journal from USA), and Wagadu: A Journal of Transnational Women’s and Gender Studies (USA)’.  The special issue is titled- “South Asian Feminisms and Youth Activism: Focus on India and Pakistan”, published as Volume 24, Issue 2 (2022), in the Journal of International Women’s Studies (JIWS).  

This Joint Special Issue editorial team includes: 

Nilanjana Paul (University of Texas Rio Grande Valley, USA)

Namita Goswami (Indiana State University, USA)

Sailaja Nandigama (Birla Institute of Technology and Science (BITS), Pilani, Rajasthan, India)

Gowri Parameswaran (State University of New York, USA)

Fawzia Afzal Khan (Montclair State University, USA)

• Exploring Place, Knowledge, and Action via EcoTypes: A Cross-National Collaboration”, a cross-national panel organized in the American Association of Geographers (AAG) Annual Conference, 26/02/22. Project on ‘The New Ecotypes’ in collaboration with Prof. Jim Proctor, Lewis & Clark College, Oregon, USA; Aideen Foley, Birkbeck, University of London; Naciba Chassagnon, ESSCA School of Management, Lyon, France.