
Vigya is a Senior Research Fellow at the Centre for Social Responsibility in Mining (CSRM), part of the Sustainable Minerals Institute at the University of Queensland, Australia
She has several years’ experience in applied research across domestic and international mining and energy sectors. Specifically, her interests are in understanding how the presence (or absence) of resources impacts development outcomes in host communities and regions. In her current role, she is leading the Centre’s work on fossil fuel transitions, particularly looking at the social, political and economic impacts of coal phase-out in several geographies, including India, China and Australia.
Prior to joining CSRM, she was based at the Energy and Poverty Research Group (EPRG), an interdisciplinary pan-UQ initiative established to support positive social, environmental and health outcomes vital for sustainable and productive livelihoods in energy impoverished communities globally. Vigya led this group's engagement and research in India, a priority country for both UQ and the EPRG.
Vigya also teaches Humanitarian Engineering, an undergraduate course offered to engineering students in the Faculty of Engineering, Architecture and Information Technology (EAIT) at UQ. She played an instrumental role in the design and delivery of this course, first introduced in EAIT in 2020.
Vigya advises several PhD students on topics including energy transitions, mine closure and energy and development. She serves on the Editorial Board of Energy Research and Social Science.
Initially trained as an engineer, her PhD in social sciences has allowed her a deep appreciation for interdisciplinary thinking and practice. She continues to build on these skills and undertake wide-ranging research, research management, training, and engagement to contribute to long-term positive change in the energy and resources sector.
Research Interests
- Honours/ Masters thesis projects on energy transitions, coal phase out, and community energy and climate action in Australia
We are looking for suitable Hons/ Master's students with background in social/ environmental science (human geography, journalism, environmental management) who may be interested to work in these topic areas. 1. Social aspects of coal transitions in Australia 2. Mapping energy and climate action across Australian communities 3. Media discourse analysis of Australia's coal narrative 4. Social and environmental risks of large scale renewable energy projects Please get in touch if you'd like to discuss further. - Social and institutional dynamics underlying energy transitions
What do just transitions mean for coal regions - China, India, Australia, South Africa? How do past global experiences inform governance on just transitions in a rapidly changing landscape?
Qualifications
- PhD, The University of Adelaide
- Master of Science, Royal Institute of Technology
- Bachelor of Technology, Kurukshetra University