PhD Candidate, Integrative Conservation & Anthropology Amit Kaushik is a Ph.D. candidate in Integrative Conservation and Anthropology at the University of Georgia. Kaushik’s research broadly examines the social, political, ecological, and more-than-human dimensions of conservation, with particular attention to how interventions involving large carnivores reshape relations among humans, nonhuman species, and landscapes. His dissertation investigates conservation initiatives in central India that seek to restore big cats such as tigers and cheetahs while transforming ecological governance, livelihoods, and multispecies coexistence. Drawing on multispecies ethnography, political ecology, caste, and the anthropology of science and technology, he explores what these conservation projects reveal about the production of environmental knowledge, the politics of expertise, and the unequal making of conservation futures. Through long-term, multi-sited ethnographic research with conservation scientists, Forest Department officials, local communities, and the movements of wolves and tigers themselves, Kaushik examines how conservation science, state governance, and ecological practices reconfigure relations of care, authority, and difference across species in changing times. Of note: Student Board Member, Anthropology and Environment Society, American Anthropological Association (2025-) Secretary, Social Science Working Group, Society for Conservation Biology (2025) President, Anthropology Graduate Student Organization, University of Georgia (2022-23) Research Research Areas: Cultural Anthropology Research Interests: Environmental Anthropology; Multispecies Ethnography; Political Ecology; Anthropology of Conservation; Science and Technology Studies (STS); Caste, Environment, and Environmental Justice Labs: Human and Environmental Change Lab Selected Publications Selected Publications: Academic Publications: 1. Dietsch, A. M., Selinske, M.J., van Eeden, L. M., Blount-Hill, K.-L., Hauptfeld, R. S.,Banerjee, S., Brittain, S., Gelves-Gómez, F., Kaushik, A.,Fischer, P. M., Uddin, M. K., & Wallen, K. E. (2025). Conservation and the social sciences revisited. Conservation Biology, 39, e14462. https://doi.org/10.1111/cobi.14462 2. Thomas-Walters, L.,Gelves-Gomez, F., Brittain, S., van Eeden, L. M., Sky, N.H., Kaushik, A., Kemink, K., Manzano-Fischer, P.,Plotsky, K., & Selinske, M. (2025). Essential skills for the training of conservation social scientists. Conservation Biology, 39, e14456. https://doi.org/10.1111/cobi.14456 Masters Research: Kaushik, A. 2016. “Habitat-Use Interactions between Kiang (Equus kiang) & Changpas (Nomadic Pastoral Community) in Tsokar basin, Ladakh." Unpublished MA Thesis, Dr. B.R. Ambedkar University Delhi, India. Reports: 1. Wildlife Institute of India, 2022. Integrated Landscape Management Plan for Greater Panna Landscape, Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh. https://wii.gov.in/images/images/documents/publications/rr_2022_integrated_landscape_management_plan.pdf Popular articles/Blogs: Kaushik, A. 2024. “Alice In Chains”: Ground Staff Heroes, Conservation Realities, And Reflecting On William Cronon’s Insights. Current Conservation. https://www.currentconservation.org/alice-in-chains-ground-staff-heroes-conservation-realities-and-reflecting-on-william-cronons-insights/ Kaushik, A. 2024. Tigers, Animality, and Dignity: A Journey Through the Central Indian Landscape. Engagement – A blog published by the Anthropology and Environment Society, American Anthropological Association https://aesengagement.wordpress.com/2024/01/20/tigers-animality-and-dignity-a-journey-through-the-central-indian-landscape/ Kaushik, A. (2017). Situating Nilgai in Delhi. CUES Blogs, Centre for Urban Ecology & Sustainability, Ambedkar University Delhi. https://cuesonline.org/2017/08/11/situating-nilgai-in-delhi/ Grants Grants: 2025 1st Rufford Small Grant, Rufford Foundation 2025 Wenner-Gren Dissertation Fieldwork Grant 2024 National Geographic Society Grant 2024 Robert E. Rhoades Pre-Dissertation Travel Award, UGA Department of Anthropology 2024 Communication of Research and Scholarship, UGA Graduate School 2024 Integrative Conservation Mini-Grant, UGA Centre for Integrative Conservation Research 2023 Arts Collaborative Grant, UGA Arts Collaborative 2023 Graduate Research Award, UGA Willson Center for Humanities and Arts 2022 Communication of Research and Scholarship, UGA Graduate School 2015-16 Dr. B.R. Ambedkar University Delhi Merit Scholarships Education Education: M.A., School of Human Ecology, Dr. B.R. Ambedkar University Delhi 2016 B.Com.(Honors), Deen Dayal Upadhyaya College, University of Delhi 2012
