Tata Institute of Social Sciences

Dr Praveen Kumar

Assistant Professor
Mumbai Campus,
Programme Coordinator, Centre for Climate Change and Sustainability Studies, School of Habitat Studies

Qualification

Ph.D (Jawaharlal Nehru University, Delhi)

M.Sc in Environment Management (Forest Research Institute, Dehradun)

B.Sc in Life Sciences (Hansraj College, University of Delhi)

Contact

praveen.kumar[at]tiss[dot]ac[dot]in

Address: Room no. 3, Prof. M.S. Gore Academic Block, Naoroji Campus, Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Deonar, Mumbai - 400088

Phone Number (O): 022-25525868

Email: praveen.kumar@tiss.ac.in; pkb911@gmail.com

Dr Praveen Kumar is an Assistant Professor in the Centre for Climate Change and Sustainability Studies, School of Habitat Studies at Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS), Mumbai, India. He is a socio-ecologist with a key interest in human geography and landscape ecology and is interested in interdisciplinary research and teaching. His research aims to understand the dynamics and interrelationships between social and ecological systems. His research interests include Socio-ecological Systems, Climate Change Vulnerability and Adaptation, Climate Risk and Himalayan Forest ecosystems.

Previously, he was a postdoctoral researcher in the Department of Hydrology at the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Roorkee, India. He has completed his doctoral degree on the topic of “Assessing climate change vulnerability and adaptation strategies of socio-ecological systems in the Central Himalaya” at the Spatial Analysis and Informatics Laboratory (SAIL), School of Environmental Sciences (SES), Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU), India. He was awarded DAAD PhD scholarship at Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg, Germany. He has completed his master’s degree in Environment Management from Forest Research Institute (FRI), Dehradun, India. He has completed his bachelor's in Life Sciences from Hansraj College, University of Delhi.

He has been awarded:

DAAD Research Ambassador (2025-28) by the German Academic Exchange Services (DAAD), Germany.
Commonwealth Futures Climate Research Cohort 2023-24 Fellowship by The Association of Commonwealth Universities, London, United Kingdom.
OMLAS Star fellowship under the One Million Leaders Asia (OMLAS) program of Next Leaders’ Initiative for Sustainability (NELIS), Tokyo, Japan.
DAAD Ph.D. Scholarship award for a bi-nationally supervised doctoral degree at Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg, Germany.
IALE Grant, International Association for Landscape Ecology Grant, Milan, Italy.

Research Interests:

Human geography
Socio-ecological systems
Climate change vulnerability and adaptation
Climate Risk
Landscape ecology

List of major papers (International peer-reviewed journals):

Sachdeva, S., Kumar, P. (2025). Assessing the household level perception and adaptation strategies to flood risk in informal settlements of Yamuna floodplain in Delhi. Natural Hazards. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11069-025-07257-5
Niu, H., Wei, L.,...Kumar, P., ....Yin, Z. (2025). Abundance Distribution Pattern of Species in Artificial Mangrove Communities in Nansha Coastal Wetland, Guangzhou, China. Wetlands 45(58). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13157-025-01938-4
Kumar, P., Fürst, C. and Joshi, P.K. (2024). Differentiated Socio-ecological Systems (SES) approach for vulnerability and adaptation assessment in the Central Himalaya. Mitigation and Adaptation Strategies for Global Change, 29, 7 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11027-023-10097-y
Kumar, P., Fürst, C., and Joshi, P.K. (2021). Socio-Ecological Systems (SESs) - Identification and Spatial Mapping in the Central Himalaya. Sustainability, 13(14), 7525. https://doi.org/10.3390/su13147525
Kumar, P., Joshi, P.K., Pandey, R., and Fürst, C. (2021). The role of information-infrastructure for climate change adaptation in the socio-ecological system of the Central Himalaya: Availability, utility, and gaps. Socio-Ecological Practice Research, 3, 397–410. https://doi.org/10.1007/s42532-021-00096-1
Berrang-Ford, L., … Kumar, P., … Abu, T.Z. (2021). A systematic global stocktake of evidence on human adaptation to climate change. Nature Climate Change, 11, 989–1000. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41558-021-01170-y
McDowell, G., … Kumar, P., …the Global Adaptation Mapping Initiative. (2021). Closing the Adaptation Gap in Mountains. Mountain Research and Development, 41(3), A1-A10. https://doi.org/10.1659/MRD-JOURNAL-D-21-00033.1
Gopirajan AT, S., Kumar, P., and Joshi, P.K. (2021). Unraveling the complex and dynamic Himalayan socio-ecological systems: a systematic review. Environment, Development and Sustainability, 24, 1532-1559. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10668-021-01527-5
Gopirajan AT, S., Kumar, P., Chauhan, N., and Joshi, P.K. (2021). Influence of socio environmental risks on natural resource dependent socio-ecological systems in Central Himalaya. Human and Ecological Risk Assessment: An International Journal, 27(6), 1568-1587. https://doi.org/10.1080/10807039.2020.1861427
Omerkhil, N., Kumar, P., Mallick, M., Meru, L. B., Chand, T., Rawat, P. S., and Pandey, R. (2020). Micro-level adaptation strategies by smallholders to adapt climate change in the least developed countries (LDCs): Insights from Afghanistan. Ecological Indicators, 118 (July), 106781. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecolind.2020.106781
Sekhri, S., Kumar, P., Fürst, C., and Pandey, R. (2020). Mountain specific multi-hazard risk management framework (MSMRMF): Assessment and mitigation of multi-hazard and climate change risk in the Indian Himalayan Region. Ecological Indicators, 118 (July), 106700. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecolind.2020.106700
Pandey, R., Kumar, P., Archie., K.M., Gupta, A.K., Joshi, P.K., Valente, D., and Petrosillo, I. (2018). Climate change adaptation in the western-Himalayas: Household level perspectives on impacts and barriers. Ecological Indicators, 84, 27-37. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecolind.2017.08.021

Report:

Singh, M., Shah, P., and Kumar, P. (2023). Forest fires and tendu leaf collection in India : An evidence-based analysis, iFOREST Foundation, New Delhi, India. https://iforest.global/research/report_forest-fires-and-tendu

Commonwealth Futures Climate Research Cohort Project on “Enhancing Resilience in Urban Informal Settlements: Understanding and Strengthening Informal Systems” by the Association of Commonwealth Universities (ACU), London, United Kingdom.
Commonwealth Futures Climate Research Cohort Project on “Aligning Informal Community-led Innovation with Formal Planning for Urban Climate Resilience in the Informal Settlements of Mumbai” by the Association of Commonwealth Universities (ACU), London, United Kingdom.
"Inclusive Commonwealth Learning for Interdisciplinary Development and Education for Sustainability (INCLIDES)" by the Association of Commonwealth Universities (ACU), London, United Kingdom.

Subjects:

Vulnerability, Adaptation, and Livelihoods
Geospatial Analysis for Environmental Studies
Extreme Events and Disasters
Statistical Ecology
Natural and Man-made Disasters
Basics of Earth System Science
Introduction to Climate Science