Medha Mukherjee
Doctor of Philosophy (DPhil) in Geography and the Environment
Medha is a geographer and creative writer interested in the equitable and sustainable delivery of essential services to disadvantaged communities in areas with high disaster risk. Her doctoral research examines how national-to-local politics, finance, public policy, and governance shape the everyday delivery of safely managed household piped drinking water to diverse communities across hazard-prone rural landscapes in India. She explores how decisions at the national, state, and individual levels can support inclusive and sustainable outcomes through extensive empirical research grounded in the lived experiences of village communities, national policymakers, and the ones in between.
With extensive qualitative fieldwork experience across 12 states and 2 Union Territories in India since 2020, Medha has worked closely with senior decision-makers to ensure her academic research is policy-relevant and actionable. Prior to her postgraduate study at the University of Oxford, she worked as a writer in the Bengali film industry for five years. She holds an undergraduate degree in English Literature from Jadavpur University, Kolkata. Her interdisciplinary background informs her qualitative research methods, which engage with visual, verbal, and textual narratives.