Aditi Bhowmick, a Harvard PhD student, has received a Mittal Institute Faculty Climate Research Grant to study gendered climate vulnerability in India. The project, co-led with Professor Eliana La Ferrara, aims to explore the impact of climate change on child marriage and health inequities by using extensive historical and contemporary data. The findings will inform policies addressing climate disparities in South Asia.
Aditi Bhowmick, an Indian PhD affiliate specializing in Development Economics and Labor Economics, has been awarded one of the inaugural Mittal Institute Faculty Climate Research Grants at Harvard University. She will co-lead an innovative research project examining gendered climate vulnerability in India, aiming to address economic and social disparities through extensive research.
The Mittal Institute grants aim to promote scholarly engagement on climate change across South Asia, fostering new knowledge and sustainable solutions. These include research categories such as energy transitions, food systems, and climate policy adaptation. Bhowmick will collaborate with Eliana La Ferrara, a Professor of Public Policy at the Harvard Kennedy School, on the research initiative.
Researchers emphasize that climate change disasters disproportionately affect gender equity in South Asia, with issues such as “climate brides” emerging where girls are compelled into marriage due to extreme weather events. This trend, despite existing laws against child marriage, can lead to severe health inequities that perpetuate cycles of poverty and inequality.
The project aims to address gaps in systematic research by utilizing historical ethnographic archives, contemporary census data, and satellite imagery covering climate and economic shocks across India’s extensive rural areas. Key research questions include the causal relationship between climate change and adverse outcomes such as child marriage in rural regions of India, as well as the impact of historical social norms on these dynamics.
To facilitate interdisciplinary research and policy-making, the project will provide a comprehensive data infrastructure, similar to Murdock’s Ethnographic Atlas for Sub-Saharan Africa. By integrating community-specific data with geographic and economic information, this research will support efforts by researchers, data journalists, and policymakers striving to mitigate climate change’s effects on gender inequity in India.
Bhowmick, currently a second-year PhD student in Public Policy at Harvard Kennedy School and a PhD Scholar at the Stone Program, is focused on issues of social norms and gender inequality in developing countries. Her work underscores her commitment to implementing effective measures for addressing these critical challenges.
In summary, Aditi Bhowmick’s research project funded by the Mittal Institute aims to investigate the intricate relationship between climate change, gender vulnerability, and health inequity in India. By integrating diverse data sources, the project seeks to provide critical insights and actionable knowledge to foster policy responses that address these pressing issues within South Asian contexts.
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