Jyothis Sathyapalan

Background

About Jyothis Sathyapalan

Dr. Jyothis Sathyapalan is a Professor at the National Institute of Rural Development and Panchayati Raj (NIRDPR), Hyderabad, with expertise in environmental economics, biodiversity conservation, and climate resilience. He holds a Ph.D. in Economics from the University of Mysore, where his pioneering research at the Institute for Social and Economic Change (ISEC), Bangalore, focused on The Economics of Biodiversity Conservation in the Western Ghats of Kerala. Dr. Sathyapalan has played a significant role in shaping biodiversity policy and climate adaptation strategies at national and global levels. As a Lead Author for the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES), he contributed to the Asia-Pacific Assessment, Global Assessment, and Sustainable Use of Wild Species reports, and served on the IPBES Task Force on Scenarios and Models. He has been a member of the National Adaptation Plan for Climate Change Committee (MoEFCC) and the National Empowered Committee on MGNREGS (Ministry of Rural Development), influencing key policy frameworks for sustainable livelihoods and ecosystem management. Internationally recognized for his academic contributions, Dr. Sathyapalan received the prestigious NWO–ICSSR Exchange of Scholars Fellowship (2009), enabling collaborative research between India and the Netherlands. His interdisciplinary research covers the economics of biodiversity and ecosystem services, rural livelihoods, sustainable development, and community-based natural resource management. With an extensive record of peer-reviewed publications, book chapters, and policy reports, Dr. Sathyapalan continues to bridge the gap between development and conservation, contributing to evidence-based policy and practice in India and beyond.