Dr. Rinan Shah is a Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions Postdoctoral Fellow at the School of Society and Environment, Queen Mary University of London. She also currently serves as an associate at the Lakshmi Mittal and Family South Asia Institute (LMSAI) at Harvard University and was a postdoctoral fellow with the Centre of Excellence for Himalayan Studies at Shiv Nadar Institute of Eminence and with LMSAI at Harvard University. She co-founded Reading Himalaya. Dr. Shah is an interdisciplinary researcher with 10 years of experience in environmental, development, and sustainability studies. She studies water, mountains, governance, policy, institutions and urban issues with a rights-based approach. Her work has been published in international journals, and she is a guest co-editor for a special issue. She has published commentaries, policy analyses, reports, and popular articles. Dr. Shah is from Bijanbari Valley, a village-town in the Darjeeling district of the Eastern Himalayan Region.
Current Projects:
Her current project, MOUNTAINWATERS, expands on the rural-urban spectrum of the right to water, women’s participation in water security, and assesses current and future scenarios of climate change impacts on water security. As the name suggests, the work will focus on the Himalaya, particularly the Eastern Himalayan region. MOUNTAINWATERS is funded under Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA). She also co-founded Reading Himalaya, a research and policy organisation led entirely by women.
Recent Publications:
• Shah Rinan, & Gamble, Ruth. 2026. ‘Contesting the Commons: Managing Darjeeling’s Springs in a Changing Eastern Himalaya’. Nature Humanities and Social Sciences Communication. [Accepted]
• Moktan, Abriti, Christopher A. Scott, Sarala Khaling, Veena Srinivasan, and Rinan Shah. 2026. ‘Springshed Management and Rural Water Security: Seen and Unseen Infrastructure in the Eastern Himalaya’. Water Security 28 (August): 100202. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.wasec.2026.100202
• N R, Lakshmikantha, Shah, Rinan, Srinivasan, Veena & Mukherji, Aditi. Hits and Misses: Water-Based Climate Change Adaptation Interventions for Agriculture in South Asia. Mitigation and Adaptation Strategies for Global Change. 30, 19 (2025). doi: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11027-025-10206-z
• Issue Brief: Divided by Design: Segregated Municipal Water Access in Darjeeling Town. Centre of Excellence for Himalayan Studies, Shiv Nadar Institution of Eminence | 2026
• Commentary: Urbanisation, Extreme Rainfall, and Disaster Risk in the Himalaya. Centre of Excellence for Himalayan Studies, Shiv Nadar Institution of Eminence | 2025
• Commentary: Quiet Struggles of Communities Navigating Hydropower in the Himalayan Region. Centre of Excellence for Himalayan Studies, Shiv Nadar Institution of Eminence | 2025
• Issue Brief: Mapping the Legal Landscape of Himalayan Springs: Where Indian States Stand and How to Move Forward. Centre of Excellence for Himalayan Studies, Shiv Nadar Institution of Eminence | 2025
• Commentary: Hard and Soft Infrastructure of State Water Provisioning in Urban Mountain Towns. Centre of Excellence for Himalayan Studies, Shiv Nadar Institution of Eminence | 2025
• Issue Brief: Administration of Springs in India: Legal and Institutional Frameworks. Centre of Excellence for Himalayan Studies, Shiv Nadar Institution of Eminence | 2025
• Commentary: Centring Springs for Water Security in the Himalaya. Centre of Excellence for Himalayan Studies, Shiv Nadar Institution of Eminence | 2025
Connect to Dr. Shah on LinkedIn here.
