Aishwarya Sanas

When did you join the ESG Network, and what motivated you to get involved?

I applied for the position of Earth System Governance fellow back in September of 2022 and I received my confirmation for the same in November, 2022. I have been a fellow for the last nine months and I can describe my journey so far as one of excitement, discovery, and learning. I was introduced to the Earth System Governance project through X (Twitter, back then) in early 2022. As a researcher of global environmental governance and climate politics, I went through the work of the ESG project, their publications, the various research verticals, and the vast group of scholars under its fold. I was immediately fascinated by the amazing research that was being churned out by the forum. Since then, I kept looking for opportunities to get involved. I was very happy when I learnt that I can participate in the forum through the Research Fellowship.

I am a student of political science, economics, and international relations, and I have studied in India. I am currently pursuing my Ph.D. at Shiv Nadar Univeristy in Delhi NCR. My doctoral thesis titled ‘Thawing Politics: Himalayan International Relations, Glacier Knowledge Industry and Glacial Identities’ is an exploration of knowledge politics of climate change and international political ecology of Himalayan glaciers. My methodological framework is borrowed from existing approaches in science and technology studies, international relations and political ecology. As a part of my coursework at my University, I undertook a course on ‘Global Environmental Governance’ wherein a large part of my course readings where associated with the ESG forum. The Earth System Governance Journal played an important role in my life. It helped me understand the latest updates on the various theories of environmental governance and was a key resource in addition to the classics one usually reads.

I would also like to mention some of the aspects that motivated to pursue my association with the Earth System Governance forum and the key learnings I continue to take back from the knowledge produced at the forum and the vast resources they offer to the world. First, they have helped me in updating myself with the latest advances theoretically as well as empirically around issues of global environmental change. Since the ESG forum has a broad mandate, it is not confined by disciplinary and methodological boundaries. This has allowed early-career researchers like myself, to expose ourselves to a broad-range of sub-domains. Second, the forum focuses on interdisciplinarity. The many scholars associated with the forum, trained in diverse disciplines such as anthropolocy, economics, history, linguistics, international relations, among others offer unique insights to the understanding of socio-environmental relations, power and nature, climate crises, etc. My own methodological understandings have been shaped by interdisciplinary approaches. The forum has thus, motivated me to pursue cross-disciplinary techniques to answer my questions, not be limited to conventional domains of study, and always be open to new things.

The third reason that motivated me to get involved in the ESG forum is the diverse scholarship it hosts from across the field. The senior researchers as well as the early-career researchers associated with the network are growing every month and that testifies to the credibility of the forum. I am looking forward to connecting with scholars from across the world to not only share my work but also learn from theirs. The ‘Find an Expert’ feature is very useful and I have benefitted from it. The fourth reason is that the ESG forum offers opportunities to its early career scholars to contribute to the upcoming issues in the form of book review or research article submissions. I was given the opportunity to review a book in an issue earlier this year and I am very grateful for that.

Finally, I was motivated to join the network to give direction to my deep-seated commitment for not only studying global environmental governance and earth-system politics but also to produce meaningful, effective knowledge for the betterment of the society, and for a just and fair transition in wake of the multiple complex crises that surround us. I intent to participate more and get involved in greater capacities in the coming time.

What is the most useful piece of advice you have received as an Early Career Scholar?

I am in the third year of Ph.D. programme at Shiv Nadar University in India. In my thesis, I intend to collect data through- archival research of the institutionalisation of glaciological research in South Asia and its colonial connections, ethnographical fieldwork in various sites of glacier research including actual glaciers, and by interviewing glaciologists and various other experts. I have a great team of peers, mentors, faculties, and well-wishers always guiding me with my research. I would like to share some advice I received from these people that stayed with me and will always continue to in the future.

First, it is important to figure out what motivates one in academic research and the source of motivation has to be something that is intrinsic, meaningful, and non-ephemeral. It is not the number of publications, or conference presentations, or any such achievement that should be the primary motivation. In the everyday life as a researcher, one tends to be worried about publications, submissions, and fellowships, and it oftens leads to a lot of work-related pressure as well as resentment towards oneself and others. I too face these kinds of challenges but what helps me cope is reminding myself that I am here with a larger purpose; which is meaninful and effective knowledge production for the benefit of the society, my country and the world at large.

Some of the qualities that I realise are extremely crucial as an early-career researcher are humility, patience, consistency and hard-work. This applies for all jobs but one can palpably assert its importance in academia. This is because academic research is usually considered as a produce of an individual’s brain and mental labor. A scholar’s research output automatically becomes a testament of his/her intelligence and other skills such as writing, creativity, reading, public-speaking, etc. This often leads to undue competition, feelings of comparison with others, and resentment.  It is not only important to be humble, patient, and open to criticism, hiccups, and failures. But also, very crucial to accept that research is a product on one’s mind as much as it is facilitated by the society. No research is possible without the contributions of a village and a scholar should always be grateful of that.

Another important piece of advice I received from a faculty at my department is that in the quest of producing meaningful knowledge, a scholar must also disseminate his/her research to the wider society so that the knowledge produced is useful to the society. Most research stays confined to journals, and academic books, and conferences that are not accessed by the non-academic general public. It is important to share one’s research findings and analyses and this can be done in various ways. I intend to do this through my blog, my social media, and by attending public policy consultations.

Finally, I would like to share a last piece of important advice that pertains to my research area. It is relevant to those studying and researching the environment and the current sustainability crises. The quest for just and inclusive climate transition, protection of indigenous knowledge-systems and practices, and climate adaptation and mitigation requires an interdisciplinary approach. It requires for social sciences, natural sciences, and humanities to join hands. This is because the conventional ways of thinking have been responsible for the creation of the problems we face today; and as Albert Einstein has said, ‘We cannot solve a problem with the same mind that created it’.