Ph.D. Candidate and Eyes High Scholar @ University of Calgary

Sujoy Subroto

Ph.D. Candidate, M.Sc.
Pronouns: He/Him

Affiliations

SS Grad Assist - Teaching PT 6

Faculty of Arts , Department of Geography

Contact information

Email

Sujoy.subroto@ucalgary.ca

Web presence

Lab site

LinkedIn

Phone number

Office: +1 (403) 220-5590

Location

Office: Earth Sciences (ES) 310

Background

Educational Background

M.Sc. Rural Development and Natural Resource Management, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Uppsala, Sweden, 2017

M.Sc. Forestry, Shahjalal University of Science and Technology, Bangladesh, 2013

B.Sc. Foretsry, Shahjalal University of Science and Technology, Bangladesh, 2011

Biography

I am a Ph.D. candidate in the Geography Department and a recipient of the Eyes High International Doctoral Recruitment Scholarship at the University of Calgary. My current research examines the emerging dynamics of nature-society relations with an explicit focus on conservation politics, human-(Tiger) wildlife conflict, climate justice, governance of complex socio-ecological systems in changing forest carbon regimes, and rural livelihood adaptation in the transboundary Sundarbans Mangroves in India and Bangladesh. I apply political ecology perspective, intersectionality, and decolonial lenses as analytical frameworks in my research and community engagement.

As the first student from my poverty-prone rural wetland village in the foothills of Meghalaya to enroll in a public university, I completed my BSc and MSc in Forestry from Shahjalal University of Science and Technology in Bangladesh. Upon graduation, I worked with various NGOs, including a USAID-funded Conservation and Development project and conducted extensive research fieldwork in various protected areas and mangrove forests in Bangladesh and India.  Throughout my university education, I was also involved with numerous volunteer and non-profit organizations on campus, worked as a research assistant with inter-disciplinary teams/groups, published several newspaper articles/blogs, and co-founded a social justice volunteer organization in my home district. Then, I did a second MSc in Rural Development and Natural Resource Management at the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Uppsala, Sweden, with the support of the prestigious Swedish Institute Scholarship in 2014-2016. Over the last few years, I have completed two Mitacs projects with the City of Calgary and the Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur and served on various volunteer committees, including as a non-residential Scholar at UofC Grad College. I am also working as a research assistant with the Community Disaster Research and Indigenous Studies department at Mount Royal University (MRU), Calgary. Here, I collaborate with racialized minorities and Indigenous communities to conduct research on anti-racist climate solutions and land-based environmentalism in Canada and beyond.

Research

Areas of Research

Conservation Politics, Forest-Carbon Governance, Climate Justice, Political Ecology, Livelihood Adaptations, Decolonization and Sustainability, Protected Area Co-Management, Nature-Based Solutions (NBS)

Participation in university strategic initiatives

Human dynamics in a changing world

Courses

Course number Course title Semester
GEOG 254 Society and Environment Winter 2024, Winter 2023, Winter 2022, Spring 2021, Fall 2020, Winter 2020, Fall 2019
GEOG 528 Development and Participation Fall 2020
GEOG 456 Uneven Development Winter 2021, 2020
GEOG 391 Geographic Field Studies Summer 2023
GEOG 324 Society and Environmental Change Summer 2023, Fall 2021, Winter 2021
GEOG 204 Global Environmental Change Fall 2023

Projects

Climate Justice and Livelihood Security Concerns vis-à-vis Bangladesh's Emerging Forest-Carbon Governance in Sundarbans regions

PhD Project

Climate Crisis, Adaptation and Forest Livelihoods in the Global South’s Most Vulnerable Regions: A Case Study from the Indian Sundarbans.

Funded by: Mitacs Globallink Research Award (6000 CAD) in Collaboration with the Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur, West-Bengal, India and the University of Calgary, Canada

Background and outcomes:This project facilitated international field collaboration with Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Kharagpur in the world’s largest trans-boundary deltaic mangrove, Sundarbans. The project aimed to explore emerging mangrove governance, climate crisis, micropolitics, and forest rights issues in the island villages of the coastal mangrove. We have submitted a final report to MITAS based on the initial findings. We are now preparing one scholarly article for the Environmental Management Journal, and one policy brief for governance actors.

Identifying the practices and policies of improving digital equity among vulnerable communities in Calgary

Mitacs Accelerate Grant (30000 CAD). In collaboration with the City of Calgary and the Department of Community Health Science at UofC, this project was funded by Mitacs Canada.

Background and outcomes: Conducted a systematic internet scan of relevant grey literature (available outside of conventional academic journals) followed by thematic content analysis. Published a policy report and protocol paper; we are now preparing a journal article based on our findings.

Awards

  • MITACS GlobaLink Research Award, Mitacs Canada. 2022
  • MITACS Accelerate Award, Mitacs Canada. 2022
  • Eyes High International Doctoral Recruitment Scholarships (2019-2023), University of Calgary. 2019
  • Swedish Institute Study Scholarships, Swedish Federal Government Agency. 2014
  • Faculty of Graduate Studies (FGS) Scholarship, University of Calgary. 2019
  • Department of Geography Graduate Program Excellence Award, University of Calgary. 2024

Publications

  • Conservation Ethos of Indigenous Munda Community vis à vis Land Grabbing Battles in Bangladesh’s Sundarban Mangroves (Forthcoming). Subroto, S., & Davidsen, C.. In: Datta, R. (eds) Indigenous Land-Based Knowledge and Sustainability: Settler Colonialism and the Environmental Crisis. Routledge, Taylor & Francis Group. . (2024)

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