Scholars
Praharsh M. Patel
Pennsylvania State University
Based in
United States
North America
My research focuses on environmental policies’ intended/unintended consequences on sustainable development in resource-crunched economies. I am interested in water resources and their impact on socioeconomic development, especially groundwater. I am a researcher as well as a practitioner working in the domain of environmental and agricultural sustainability. I founded “Prayaas: The Movement for Grassroot” changes in Kachchh, India. The organization works for livelihood sustainability and upskilling of the communities to mitigate climate change impacts. I have been awarded National Youth Award by the Government of India for working on water and agricultural sustainability challenges.
Country(ies) of Specialty
United States China Haiti IndiaFocus areas of expertise
Climate policy and politics Renewable energy Behavioral action AgriculturePublications
Journal Articles
Patel, P.M. (2023). “Agricultural transformations in the arid, drought-prone region of Kachchh: People-led, market-oriented growth under adverse climatic conditions.” Front. Sustain. Food Syst. 7:1159011. doi: 10.3389/fsufs.2023.1159011
Ashraf, M., Arshad, A., Patel, P. M., Khan, A., Qamar, H., Siti-Sundari, R., Ghani, M. U., Amin, A., & Babar, J. R. (2021). “Quantifying climate-induced drought risk to livelihood and mitigation actions in Balochistan.” Natural Hazards, 109(3), 2127–2151.
Patel, P. M., Saha, D., & Shah, T. (2020). “Sustainability of groundwater through community-driven distributed recharge: An analysis of arguments for water-scarce regions of semi-arid India.” Journal of Hydrology: Regional Studies, 29.
Book Chapters
Patel, P. M., Saha, D., (2022) “Groundwater: A juggernaut of socio-economic development and stability in the arid region of Kachchh” in Re, V., Manzione, R.L., Abiye, T.A., Mukherji, A., & MacDonald, A. (Eds.). Groundwater for Sustainable Livelihoods and Equitable Growth (1st ed.). CRC Press.
Blogs
“The Treasure Beneath the Surface: The role of groundwater in the development of the Kachchh region of India”, Penn State Association of Water Students (PAWS). (22 Jun 2022)
“Electric Vehicles in India: Can we protect the environment & also help the economy”, with Ishani Paladurkar, Down to Earth. (6 Apr 2022)
“The Tale of Two Disasters: Role of science communication for disaster risk reduction”, with Ishani Paladurkar, India Water Portal. (15 Mar 2022)
“Drying veins of Ganga: Can we have ‘Nirmal Ganga’ with dying tributaries?”, with Adeel Khan, India Water Portal. (27 Aug 2020)
“Sunk cost”, India Development Review. (4 Aug 2020)
“Pumping Groundwater to Harnessing Rainfall: A tale of two states”, with Dipankar Saha & Tushaar Shah, India Water Portal. (1 Jul 2020)
“Fruit of their labour”, India Development Review. (13 May 2020)
“Horticulture pile-up, yet farmers stare at losses in Kachchh”, India Water Portal. (10 May 2020)
“Enabling local government systems to combat COVID-19 in India”, Down to Earth. (28 Apr 2020)
“Covid-19 is an opportunity”, Down to Earth. (30 Mar 2020)
“Unravelling NITI Aayog’s Composite Water Management Index: Veering to a pragmatic approach”, Down to Earth. (14 Jun 2019)