PhD Programme in Conservation Science and Sustainability Studies

The ATREE doctoral programme in Conservation Science and Sustainability Studies is designed to impart training to research scholars, to develop and use integrated approaches in sustainable development and biodiversity conservation. The programme promotes interdisciplinary research and frameworks to integrate tools and approaches from the disciplines of ecology, economics, sociology, and climate science.

ATREE's doctoral programme is affiliated to Manipal University, which is the institution that will award the degree. In accordance with the requirement of both ATREE and Manipal University, students seeking admission should have:

a background in natural or social sciences
exhibit academic excellence

Students admitted to the programme will work under the personal mentorship of an ATREE faculty member and will also be guided by a doctoral committee of 3-5 members. The committee will consist of ATREE faculty members and external scientists and will include representation of expertise from different disciplines.

Coursework

Doctoral training will begin with rigorous coursework that will take a year to complete. This will include a set of mandatory courses and a choice of electives. Since students will have either a natural or social science background, we have designed foundation courses in the natural and social sciences, which will introduce students to main concepts in both disciplines. The foundation course in natural science will cover principles in basic ecology and evolution, behavioural ecology, population biology, community ecology, ecosystem ecology, landscape ecology, and soils and hydrology. The foundation course in social science will cover the basic principles of economics and sociology, focusing on classical and contemporary economic and sociological theory, and expanding into ecological economics and environmental sociology. Following these will be two advanced core courses, one in conservation science and one in research design and methods (for both natural and social sciences).

The core course in conservation science is built on three thematic issues that are central to the current debate on the conservation of biodiversity and sustainable economic development viz., the decline of biodiversity, land degradation, and climate change. Within each thematic issue, we will start with a multidisciplinary approach and then move on to discussing more integrated approaches, drawing upon theoretical ideas and comparative analyses of case studies from across the world.

The core course in research design and methods will train students in advanced statistical, computational, and analytical methods to equip them with the necessary tools to design and implement research, and analyse data and communicate their research findings to quality journals.

Students who have successfully undergone the mandatory core courses are expected to be proficient in the basic principles of ecology, economics, sociology, and conservation science, and also equipped with the tools and technical skills to conduct research and communicate their findings effectively. Building on this fundamental training, student researchers are expected to develop and focus on their special areas of interest. In order to prepare the student for advanced debate on their focus of research, we have devoted considerable attention to designing optional elective courses. These will be advanced courses that discuss the current state of research and understanding on important issues related to ecology, conservation science, and environmental and forest policy and governance.

Course details for the first semester (August-November 2019)

C1A: Ecology

Instructors: G. Ravikanth (Co-Coordinator), Soubadra Devi, Abi Vanak (CoCoordinator)/Aniruddha Marathe/Manvi Sharma

Credits and contact hours: 3 credits, 48 hours

Class schedule: Monday (10-10:50), Wednesday (10-10:50) and Friday (10-10:50 and 11-11:50) (Two classes on some Fridays)

C1B: Fundamentals of Environmental Science

Course instructors: Priyanka Jamwal (Coordinator), Shrinivas Badiger (Co-coordinator), Nirmalya Chatterjee, Veena Srinivasan and Jagdish Krishnaswamy.

Credits: 3 credits

Class schedule: Lecture: Mon, Wed (1100-1150); Labs; Wed (1400-1650)

Prerequisites: None

C2A – Economics for Environment and Development

Instructors: Bejoy K Thomas (coordinator), Durba Biswas

Credits and contact hours: 3 credits, 48 hours

Grading: 3 Quizzes 30%/1 Assignment 20% Final exam 50% (a minimum of 85% attendance is needed to appear for the final examination)

Schedule (any change will be announced at least 5 days in advance) Time: 12.00-12.50 until 4 November, 12.00-12.50 & 2.00-2.50 thereafter

Days: Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays

C2B: Sociology

Instructors: Siddhartha Krishnan (Coordinator- siddhartha.krishnan@atree.org)

Credits and contact hours: 3 credits, 48 hours.

Class Schedule: Tuesday (10-11 AM; 11:30 AM– 12:30 PM ), & Thursday (10:00 AM -11:00 AM)

Courses offered in the second semester (January - May 2018)

C3: Integrated Approaches in Conservation, Environment and Society

Instructor: Sharachchandra Lele (slele@atree.org)

Co-instructors/Associates: Veena Srinivasan, Nitin Rai, Bejoy K. Thomas

Credits: 3 (48 contact hours in the form of 16 sessions of 3-hours each)

Session time: Monday 9:50am-1pm (starting January 8th, 2018)

C4A: Research Methods in Social Sciences

Instructors: Bejoy K Thomas (coordinator), Siddappa Setty, Shikha Lakhanpal

Credits: 1 credit

Duration: 10 lecture hours + ~25 lab hours

C4B: Philosophy of Science and Natural Science Methods

Instructors: Aravind Madhyastha (Coordinator), R. Ganesan (Co-coordinator), Kartik Shanker, Priyadarsanan Dharma Rajan, Rengaian Ganesan, Soubadra Devy, T. Ganesh

Credits: Two credits

Lectures: Tuesdays (1400-1450) Thursdays (1000-1050)

Field Course: (2-15 May)

C4C: Quantitative Methods

Instructors: Shoibal Chakravarty (coordinator shoibalc@atree.org), Som Chattopadhyay, Asmita Sengupta and Jagdish Krishnaswamy

Credits: 2

Lectures: Tuesday and Wednesday (12:00-12:50)

Lab: Thursday (11:00-11:50)

List of courses for the first semester of PhD programme (August - November 2017)

C1A: Ecology

Course instructors: G. Ravikanth (Coordinator), Ankila Hiremath, Melinda Weaver, T. Ganesh
Class schedule:Wednesdays and Fridays (1100‐1150)
Number of credits: 2 credits

C1B: Fundamentals of Environmental Science

Course instructors: Priyanka Jamwal (Coordinator), Jagdish Krishnaswamy, Shrinivas Badiger, Veena Srinivasan
Number credits: 3
Class schedule: Mon (1100‐1150), Tue (1100‐1150), Labs; Tue (1400‐1650)

C2A: Economics for Environment and Development

Course instructors: Durba Biswas (Coordinator), Bejoy Thomas, Sharad Lele
Number of credits: 3
Class schedule: Mon (1200‐1250), Wed (1200‐1250), Fri (1200‐1250)

C2B: Sociology

Instructors: Siddhartha Krishnan (Coordinator‐siddhartha.krishnan@atree.org), Rinzi Lama (rinzi.lama@atree.org), Sony R K (sony.rk@atree.org)
Credits and contact hours: 3 credits, 48 hours.
Class Schedule: Tuesday (10‐11 AM), Wednesday (14:00‐15:00) & Thursday (12:00‐13:00)

List of elective courses for 2017

E013: Environmental Governance: An Indian introduction

Instructors: Dr. Sharad Lele (Course co-ordinator) and Dr. Shikha Lakhanpal (Co-instructor)

Course description: Environmental governance is broadly the application of a political science and legal perspectives to environmental issues. The term, which has gained prominence recently, highlights the fact that from a period when ‘environmental policy-making’ and ‘environmental management’ was seen as the sole preserve of state agencies, it is now recognized that environmental decision-making involves multiple actors and their interactions. In the Indian context, this would include inter alia the judiciary, civil society groups, and the (rural and urban) communities that actually use and are affected by environmental change.

This course provides an introduction to the theoretical material on why and how environmental governance may be carried out and then will use examples from various sectors in India to understand the link between theory and practice. The topics covered are:

Nature of environmental crisis & environmental values
Terminology of institutional analysis and governance
Property rights and the environment
CPR theory
Broader framing of institutions and the environment
Regulatory theory
Environment vs development
Politicising governance

The sectors covered will be forestry, wildlife, water, pollution, and mining/thermal power/dam projects.

Credits, sessions, timings: This is a 2 credit course, with two 2-hour sessions each week over 8 weeks. The proposed schedule is Monday and Thursday, 11am-1pm, starting 6th February 2017 and ending 30th March 2017.

Format and assessment: The course will be run in a combination of lecture and discussion mode (roughly 1 hour of each in each 2-hour session). Students will be expected to have read the assigned readings before each class and will be expected to present their analysis of sectoral cases assigned to them. Assessment will be based on in-class presentations (80%) and 1 term paper (20%).

Coursework details and schedules for the second semester

C3: Integrated approaches in Conservation, Environment and Society
Credits: 3 credits (16 sessions of 3 hours each)
Instructors: Nitin Rai (coordinator, nitinrai@atree.org), Durba Biswas, Ankila Hiremath, Siddhartha Krishnan, Jagdish Krishnaswamy, Sharad Lele, and Veena Srinivasan.

C4a: Research Methods in Social Sciences
Credits and contact hours: 1 credit, 16 hours
Instructors: Siddappa Setty (coordinator: siddappa@atree.org), Bejoy K Thomas, Siddhartha Krishnan and Ulka Kelkar.

C4b: Philosophy of Science and Natural Science Methods
Credits: 2 credits (32 hours)
Instructors: Priyadarsanan (Course Coordinator: priyan@atree.org ), Aravind Madhyasta, Soubadra Devy, T. Ganesh and R. Ganesan.

C4c: Quantitative methods
Number of credits: 2
Instructors: Abi Tamim Vanak (Coordinator: avanak@atree.org), Milind Bunyan, Jagdish Krishnaswamy.
Teaching Assistant: Nachiket Kelkar
Guest lecturers: TBA

Coursework details and schedules for the first semester (August 2015-November 2015)

C1A: Ecology
Credits and contact hours: 3 credits, 48 hours
Instructors: G. Ravikanth (co-ordinator: gravikanth@atree.org), Abi Tamim Vanak (avanak@atree.org), and Soubadra Devy (soubadra@atree.org)

C1B: Fundamentals of Environmental Science
Credits and contact hours: 3 credits, 48 hours
Instructors: Shrinivas Badiger (SB) – Course Coordinator (sbadiger@atree.org); Jagdish Krishnaswamy-JK (jagdish@atree.org); Priyanka Jamwal-PJ (priyanka.jamwal@atree.org); Veena Srinivasan-VS (veena.srinivasan@atree.org)

C2a: Economics for Environment and Development
Credits and contact hours: 3 credits, 48 hours
Instructors: Durba Biswas (coordinator), Bejoy K Thomas, Ulka Kelkar

C2b: Sociology & Environmental sociology: Theorizing society, nature and their interactions
Instructor: Siddhartha Krishnan

P1: Basic Math
Credit and contact hours: 1 credit, 16 hours
Instructor: Veena Srinivasan

Coursework details and schedules for Semester 1: August-December 2013

C1A: Ecology (Click for course details and schedule)
3 credits, 48 contact hours
Instructors: T. Ganesh (Coordinator), Abi Tamim Vanak, Ravikanth G and Ankila Hiremath

C1B: Fundamentals of Environmental Science
3 credits, 48 contact hours
Instructors: Jagdish Krishnaswamy(Coordinator), Shrinivas Badiger, Priyanka Jamwal, Veena SrinivasanandSharachchandra Lele

C2A: Economics for Environment and Development
3 credits, 48 contact hours
Instructors: Bejoy K. Thomas (Coordinator), Durba Biswas, Sharachchandra Lele

C2B: Sociology and Anthropology for Environment and Development
3 credits
Instructors: Siddhartha Krishnan and Nutan Maurya

P1: Basic Math
Instructor: Veena Srinivasan

P2: English writing
Instructor: Samuel Thomas

Coursework for Semester 2: January-April 2014

Semester 2: Core courses

C3: Practising Interdisciplinary Research on the Environment
3 credits, 48 contact hours
Instructor: Sharachchandra Lele

C4a: Research Methods in Social Sciences
1 credit, 16 hours
Instructor: Bejoy K. Thomas (coordinator), Siddhartha Krishnan, Siddappa Setty

C4b: Research Methods in Natural Sciences
1.5 credits, 1.5 hours
Instructors: Abi Tamim Vanak, Priyadarsanan, Priyanka Jamwal, Shrinivas Badiger, Soubadra Devy, Siddappa Setty, T. Ganesh, N. A. Aravind

C4c: Quantitative Methods
2 credits
Instructor: Jagdish Krishnaswamy

Semester 2: Elective courses