Sanjaya Khatri, Researcher at SIAS, holds a Master’s degree in Sociology, from NIMS College (affiliated with Tribhuvan University) and Bachelor’s degree in Liberal Arts and Sciences from Himalayan Whitehouse International College, Purbanchal University. His research interests span issues of poverty, equity, livelihoods, community development, and climate-induced vulnerability in rural areas within the context of resource management.
Since 2015, his engagement at SIAS in multiple projects has been in the exploration of the intersection of climate change, livelihoods, migration, risk, and resilience. His work primarily focuses on applied research and policy engagement on issues of poverty, environmental degradation, and climate-induced vulnerability in rural areas. At SIAS, he has supported to design and led ethnographic fieldwork as well as quantitative surveys, organized policy and practice dialogues at both local and national levels, coordinated seminars and workshops, and systematically documenting field insights. Beside research projects, he has also been leading a summer field course for Master’s students from University of Edinburgh since 2019, focusing on environmental and developmental challenges in Nepal. He currently serves as the coordinator for this programme at SIAS. He has contributed to several scholarly publications, co-authored policy briefs, blogs and research reports.
Prior to SIAS, he worked as a Research Assistant at ForestAction Nepal on projects such as Payment for Ecosystem Services Alternatives and Consequences (PECA) and Climate Change and Rural Institutions (CCRI). He has also assisted international Masters and PhD students with fieldwork and transcription support.
Publications
Maskey, G., Khatri, S., Khatri, D. & Nightingale, A., 2025. Sparks of Hope amid Climate Uncertainty: Migration and Changing Rural Landscapes in the Mid-hills of Nepal. Researching Internal Displacement, 25 September. https://researchinginternaldisplacement.org/short_pieces/sparks-of-hope-amid-climate-uncertainty-migration-and-changing-rural-landscapes-in-the-mid-hills-of-nepal/
Pain, A., Khatri, S., Marquardt, K., & Khatri, D. B. (2024). Dancing with Uncertainty in the Himalayas in Times of Multiple Crises. Progress in Development Studies, pp. 1-19. https://doi.org/10.1177/14649934241303619
Khatri, D., Paudel, D., Poudyal, B. H., Khatri, S., Poudel, D. P., & Marquardt, K. (2024). Examining socio‐ecological transitions and new human–wildlife relations in farming landscapes of the Nepal Himalaya. Journal of Agrarian Change, e12594. https://doi.org/10.1111/joac.12594
Staddon, S., Barnes, C., Gurung, D. D., Robertson, G., Khatri, S., Kumar, S. P., Lama, S., Neupane, K. R., Rai, M., Shrestha, A., Shrestha, G., Shrestha, S. L., Shrestha, S., Shrestha, S. & Upadhyaya, R., (2024) “Attempting affirmative political ecologies: Collective transformative learning for social justice in Nepal’s community forestry”, Journal of Political Ecology 30(1). https://doi.org/10.2458/jpe.5598
Poudyal, B.H., Khatri, D.B., Paudel, D., Marquardt, K. and Khatri, S., 2023. Examining forest transition and collective action in Nepal’s community forestry. Land Use Policy, 134, p.106872. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.landusepol.2023.106872
Khatri, D., Marquardt, K., Fischer, H., Khatri, S., Singh, D. and Poudel, D.P., 2023. Why is farming important for rural livelihood security in the Global South? COVID-19 and changing rural livelihoods in Nepal’s mid-hills. Frontiers in Human Dynamics, 5, p.8. https://doi.org/10.3389/fhumd.2023.1143700
Policy brief: Wildlife impact on mountain livelihood; need for effective policy response (वन्यजन्तुको चपेटामा पहाडी जनजीवन : प्रभावकारी नीतिको खाँचो) – २०२३ विष्णुहरि पौड्याल, दिलवहादुर खत्री, डिल्लीप्रसाद पौडेल, दिनेश पौडेल र संजय खत्री https://sias-southasia.orgwildlife-issue-policy-brief/ (This policy brief is written in Nepali Language)
Khatri, D., Paudel, D., Pain, A., Marquardt, K., and Khatri, S., 2022. Reterritorialization of community forestry: Scientific forest management for commercialization in Nepal. Journal of Political Ecology, 29(1). https://doi.org/10.2458/jpe.2298
Matthys, M.L., Acharya, S., and Khatri, S., 2021. “Before cardamom, we used to face hardship”: Analyzing agricultural commercialization effects in Nepal through a local concept of the Good Life. World Development, 141, p.105410. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.worlddev.2021.105410