Dr Nanda Kaji Budhathoki

I have a research background in environmental economics, climate change adaptation, and behavioural economics. I completed PhD in Agriculture and Environmental Economics from Charles Darwin University in 2020. I designed and set up an index-based agricultural insurance premium rate against multiple risks as a risk mitigation strategy in my PhD research. Additionally, I explored farmers’ knowledge of and risk perceptions towards three extreme events whose frequency, duration, and intensity will increase with climate change, how they are affected by, on a personal and farming level, and how they chose to adapt and identify socio-economic and psychological factors that affect farmers’ choices and intensity of intended adaptation. The research reduced the risk of these events to the farming community by identifying and implementing innovative and sustainable farming adaptation and mitigation measures. Recently, I joined Sustainable Landscape Group as a postdoctoral research fellow, where I will focus on identifying, developing and implementing how social science and economic components drive landholders’ engagement in private land conservation and how climate-related extreme events, including wildfires and drought, will affect landholders’ adoption on private land conservation by integrating economic, environmental and social data modelling. This research supports innovative and efficient climate-resilient private land conservation initiatives.