Malavika Jinka Ramamurthy

About Malavika Jinka Ramamurthy

Malavika Jinka is a PhD student in Sociocultural Anthropology with a focus on political ecology and development anthropology at UA. Malavika’s serendipitous encounter with the Chenchu indigenous community in southern India led to her interest in learning the impact of the state’s conservation goals on indigenous communities, human displacement, transformation of societies, and socioeconomic development. She graduated from the Mississippi State University (MSU) with a Master’s in Applied Anthropology. Her research compares the definition of “development” by internally displaced people and the Indian government. She volunteers as a student technical representative for Consortium of Practicing & Applied Anthropologists. As a research assistant for Social Science Research Council at MSU, Malavika participated in studying teenage pregnancy issues in the Mississippi Delta region.

Originally from India, Malavika has earned her Master’s in Journalism and Mass Communication from Madurai Kamaraj University, India. She has worked as an editor for various publishing houses in India. Malavika enjoys traveling and exploring new places, cooking, reading, and practicing traditional Indian art of Kolam or floor drawings.

Selected Publications

KM Metry, Forest Blossoms and the Concrete Jungle: An Insight into Indian Tribal Studies. (2011). M Jinka (Ed). Kannada University, Hampi, India. ISBN-10: 9381645140; ISBN-13: 978-9381645147

B Malashetti, The Bayalatas of Karnataka (Folklore of Karnataka). (2012). M Jinka (Ed). Kannada Folklore University, Haveri, India

K Ragsdale, P Marinda, MR Read-Wahidi, L Pincus, E Torell, R Kolbila, M Jinka, R Sakapaji, M Tembo, & L Ingouf. (2019, October 29). Fish4Zambia Report: Gender Disaggregated WEFI Results: Research in Zambia's Lake Bangweulu Region among Fishers, Processors and Traders. USAID, Feed the Future Fish Innovation Lab for Fish, Social Science Research Center, Mississippi State University

M Jinka. (2013). Proceedings of the UGC SAP DRS II Workshop on "Forest and Tribal Folklore in Karnataka―Forest: Tribal Traditional Occupations and Sustainable Livelihood in Karnataka," Bangalore, India

Research Interests

Biodiversity conservation, Internally displaced persons, Development anthropology, Environmental anthropology, Political ecology, Indigenous communities, Tiger reserves, India, Non-governmental organizations, International aid