Staff Page – NESRC

Dr Walter Fernandes

Dr Walter Fernandes , present Director of North Eastern Social Research Centre (NESRC), Guwahati, Assam, was formerly Director of Research at Animation and Research Centre, Yangon Myanmar (2013-15) and Founder-Director of NESRC (2000-2011). Before moving to the Northeast, he was Director, Director of Research and of Tribal Studies at Indian Social Institute, New Delhi (1977-99) and Editor of Social Action (1985-93). He has worked extensively on tribal issues, gender issues, development-induced displacement and conflicts and peace. He has to his credit more than 50 books, over 200 professional articles and 150 newspaper articles on these issues. He has also been a member of several Government India Committees the last one being the National Commission for Land Reforms chaired by the Prime Minister (2008-14). He has been a visiting lecturer in some universities in India and abroad.

Email: walter.nesrc@gmail.com

P. Lalpekhlui

P. Lalpekhlui completed her post-graduation in Political Science from Gauhati University, Guwahati and joined M. Phil. in Social Sciences at Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Guwahati Campus. She has completed her PhD from Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Guwahati. She is currently working as a Senior Research Associate on the Oil Palm Plantations in Northeast India. Her area of interest includes the changing relationship between territory and citizenship and explores the processes, magnitudes and forms of negotiation in the borderland.

Email: nnlalpek05gmail.com

Vizokhole Ltu

Vizokhole Ltu is currently working as a Senior Research Associate on the project Tribal Land in Northeast India Constitutional Provisions and Laws: Implications and Solutions. She has submitted her PhD thesis to Jawaharlal Nehru University, Delhi. Her area of interest includes customary laws, with a focus on land, gender and inheritance rights; mobilities research, with a focus on people, commodity and infrastructural initiatives.

Email: ltuvizokhole@gmail.com

Timothy Khongsai

Timothy Khongsai is a postgraduate from the School of Human Ecology at Ambedkar University, Delhi. He is currently working as a Research Associate at NESRC for a project on Oil Palm Plantations in Northeast India. His research interests include political ecology, agrarian studies, and environmental history. He has explored parallels between communities and the environment in North, Central, and Northeast India, with a focus on gender, marginality, livelihood, and sustainability.

Email: tmothylh@gmail.com

Dejna Daulagupu

Dejna Daulagupu is currently working as a Research Associate on the project Tribal Land in Northeast India Constitutional Provisions and Laws: Implications and Solutions. She completed her post graduation in Anthropology from Miranda House, University of Delhi. She has previously worked with NESRC on a project exploring women-ecology relations in Northeast India. This work has been published in 2024 in the form of a book titled “Forests and Fields of Imagined Futures”. Her research interests lie at the nexus of agro-ecological issues, indigeneity, gender and development in Northeast India.

Email: dejnadaulagupu@gmail.com

Raysha Alvir

Raysha Alvir is a post-graduate from the School of Humanities and Social Sciences, from the Centre for Ecology, Environment, and Sustainable Development at Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Guwahati. She is currently working as a Research Associate at NESRC on the project Tribal Land in Northeast India Constitutional Provisions and Laws: Implications and Solutions. Her research interests include Political Ecology, Language Ecology, Land and Development, Conservation, and Indigenous studies.

Email: rayshaalvir135@gmail.com

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Noihrit Gogoi

Noihrit Gogoi is currently working as a Research Coordinator on the project Empowering Communities and Institutions for Peace Building in North East India at NESRC. He completed his Bachelor's in history from Ramjas College, University of Delhi and his Master's in Ecology, Environment and Sustainable Development from Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Guwahati. His research areas include Environmental History, Political Ecology, Conservation, Political Economy, and Critical Agrarian Studies.

Email: gogoinoihrit@gmail.com

Ashpriya Rohman

Ashpriya Rohman is working as Finance Officer at NESRC. She is also in-charge of day to day operations of the centre. She deals with all the financial, administrative and secretarial work. She has done her B.Com (Accountancy Hons) from Sonari Commerce College, Charaideo under Dibrugarh University. She has been working in NESRC since 2011.

Email: ashpiyarohman.sib@gmail.com

Rita Xess

Rita Xess is currently working as a Librarian at the Centre. She has completed her Bachelors of Commerce from K.C. Das Commerce College and Bachelor of Library and Information Science from IGNOU, Guwahati. She has been working in NESRC since 2015.

Email: ritaxessghy@gmail.com

Nirab Bora

Nirab Bora from Guwahati finished his B.Com(Hons) from Sarvapalli Radhakrishnan Academy, Guwahati. He is currently working as Publication Assistant and is also responsible for maintaining documentation at the Centre.

Email: boranirab87@gmail.com

Mary Nomita Devi

Mary Nomita Devi is working as a documentation assistant at North Eastern Social Research Centre. She has completed her Bachelors in Philosophy from Handique Girls College, Guwahati.

Email: marynomita1404@gmail.com

Mrinmoy Kalita

Mrinmoy Kalita completed his Bachelor of Science in Statistics from B.Borooah College, Guwahati. He is currently working as a documentation assistant.

Email: mrinmoy1249@gmail.com

Meenal Tula

Meenal Tula is currently an Honourary Research Fellow at the centre. She was employed as a Postdoctoral Fellow with the project Practising Food Sovereignty: Indigenous Peoples and Agroecological Relationships in Eastern Himalayas,funded by the Swedish Research Council, from January 2022-December 2023. Before that she worked as a Senior Research Associate since 2016, working on a range of areas from gender, livelihoods, customs and indigenous ontologies. She is interested in anthropological and historical approaches to studying the politics of gender, identity and community.

Email: meenal.tula@gmail.com

Dixita Deka

Dixita Deka is an Honorary Research Fellow. Earlier she was a Postdoctoral Fellow working on the project Practicing Food Sovereignty: Indigenous Peoples and Agroecological Relationships in the Eastern Himalayas funded by the Swedish Research Council. She finished her PhD from the Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Guwahati in 2021. Her research and writings revolve around women's agency in insurgent struggles, memory and violence in Northeast India, gender studies, and food cultures in the Eastern Himalayas.

Email: guwahatidixita719@gmail.com

Our Staff