Priya Shyamsundar
Lead Economist
Arlington, VA
AREA OF EXPERTISE
Economics, environment, development
Biography
Priya Shyamsundar is Lead Economist at The Nature Conservancy. With extensive experience on the economics of environment and development, Priya’s research covers a range of local to global urban and rural environmental problems.
At TNC, she leads a Global Science program of economists and quantitative social scientists who integrate human well-being considerations into decision-making processes, assessing trade-offs and distributive outcomes, and analyzing governance, economic, social and behavioral drivers to ensure sustainable and equitable conservation.
Priya has served on advisory panels for the Government of India, the World Bank, IGBP and the International Institute for Sustainable Development, Canada. Previously, Priya was founder director of SANDEE, a research network focused on solutions to shared environment-development challenges across seven countries in South Asia, and also consulted extensively for the World Bank. As a member of IUFRO’s Expert Panel on Forests and Poverty, she was involved in an IPCC-type global assessment of forests and poverty and has served as a member of the Science Taskforce supporting the UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration.
Nature and Equity: The Future of Lasting Conservation?
Cool Green Science
Small Land Holders Can Lead the Way in Tropical Tree Cover Restoration
Cool Green Science
Fields on Fire: Can Agricultural Alternatives Mean Cleaner Air in India?
Cool Green Science
How Much Does It Cost to Save Tropical Forests and Prevent Climate Change?
Cool Green Science
Can India's Farmers Deliver Clean Air Along with Good Food?
Cool Green Science
Kickstarting No-Burn Agriculture in India
Hindustan Times
Stop the Air Assault on North India: End to Crop Burning is Achievable and Farmers Can Lead the Way
Times of India
Visit Priya's Google Scholar Profile for a full list of publications.
2019
P. Shyamsundar, N. P. Springer, H. Tallis, S. Polasky, M. L. Jat, H. S. Sidhu, P. P. Krishnapriya, N. Skiba, W. Ginn, V. Ahuja, J. Cummins, I. Datta, H. H. Dholakia, J. Dixon, B. Gerard, R. Gupta, J. Hellmann, A. Jadhav, H. S. Jat, A. Keil, J. K. Ladha, S. Lopez-Ridaura, S. P. Nandrajog, S. Paul, A. Ritter, P. C. Sharma, R. Singh, D. Singh, R. Somanathan. (2019) Fields on fire: Alternatives to crop residue burning in India. Science, 09 AUG 2019, 536-538.
Shyamsundar, P., S. Ahlroth., P. Kristjanson and S. Onder, 2019. Supporting pathways to prosperity in forest landscapes—A PRIME framework, World Development. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.worlddev.2019.104622
Busch, J., Engelmann, J., Cook-Patton, S., Griscom, B., Kroeger, T., Possingham, H., Shyamsundar, P. 2019. “Potential for Low-Cost Carbon Dioxide Removal through Tropical Reforestation.” Nature Climate Change 9, 463-466. doi: 10.1038/s41558-019-0485-x
2018
Rai, R.K.; Shyamsundar, P.; Nepal, M.; Bhatta, L.D. 2018, Financing Watershed Services in the Foothills of the Himalayas. Water, 10, 965. https://doi.org/10.3390/w10070965
Cheng, S. H., K. MacLeod, S. Ahlroth; S. Onder, E. Perge, P. Shyamsundar, P. Rana, R. Garside, P. Kristjanson, M.C. McKinnon, D.C. Miller. 2018. What is the contribution of forests to poverty alleviation? A systematic map of global evidence, Environmental Evidence.
Shyamsundar, P. 2018. Can We Use Delhi’s Air Pollution Crisis to Improve Agriculture? Conversations 2: Air Pollution, Ecology, Economy and Society—the INSEE Journal, 1(2): 91-93.
2017
Cheng, S.H., Ahlroth, S., Onder, S., Shyamsundar, P., Garside, R., Kristjanson, P., McKinnon, M.C. & Miller, D.C. (2017). What is the evidence for the contribution of forests to poverty alleviation? A systematic map protocol. Environmental Evidence, 6, 10.
Sharma, B., Shyamsundar, P., Nepal, M., Pattanayak, S. & Karky, B. (2017). Costs, cobenefits, and community responses to REDD+: a case study from Nepal. Ecology and Society, 22.
2015
Rai, R.K., Shyamsundar, P., Nepal, M. & Bhatta, L.D. (2015). Differences in demand for watershed services: Understanding preferences through a choice experiment in the Koshi Basin of Nepal. Ecological Economics, 119, 274-283.
2014
Griggs, D., Stafford Smith, M., Rockström, J., Öhman, M., Gaffney, O., Glaser, G., Kanie, N., Noble, I., Steffen, W. & Shyamsundar, P. (2014). An integrated framework for sustainable development goals. Ecology and Society, 19.
Haque, A.K.E., Khan, Z.H., Nepal, M. & Shyamsundar, P. (2014). Red Wells or Green Wells and Does It Matter? Examining Household Use of Arsenic-contaminated Water in Bangladesh. In: Environment and Development Economics (eds. Barrett, S., Mäler, K.-G. & Maskin, E.S.). Oxford University Press, pp. 174-199.
Mukhopadhyay, P., Nepal, M. & Shyamsundar, P. (2014). Building skills for sustainability: a role for regional research networks. Ecology and Society, 19.
Shyamsundar, P. & Ghate, R. (2014). Rights, Rewards, and Resources: Lessons from Community Forestry in South Asia. Rev Environ Econ Policy, 8, 80-102.
2013
Griggs, D., Stafford-Smith, M., Gaffney, O., Rockström, J., Öhman, M.C., Shyamsundar, P., Steffen, W., Glaser, G., Kanie, N. & Noble, I. (2013). Policy: Sustainable development goals for people and planet. Nature, 495, 305-307.
Shyamsundar, P. (2013). Accounting for natural wealth—Practical challenges ahead. Environmental Development, 7, 181-183.
2012
Gundimeda, H. & Shyamsundar, P. (2012). Forests, sustainability and poverty in India. Environment and Development Economics, 17, 373-378.
Mukhopadhyay, P. & Shyamsundar, P. (2012). Economic Growth and Ecological Sustainability in India. In: The Oxford Handbook of the Indian Economy (ed. Ghate, Chetan). Oxford University Press.
2011
Bandyopadhyay, S. & Shyamsundar, P. (2011). Examining the effectiveness of irrigation management reforms in the Philippines. In: Institutional Aspects of Water Management: Evaluating the Experience, Water Resource Planning, Development and Management (ed. Herath, G.). Nova Science Publishers, Hauppauge, NY.
Bandyopadhyay, S., Shyamsundar, P. & Baccini, A. (2011). Forests, biomass use and poverty in Malawi. Ecological Economics, 70, 2461–2471.
Haque, A.K.E., Murty, M.N. & Shyamsundar, P. (eds.). (2011). Environmental Valuation in South Asia. Cambridge University Press.
2010
Bandyopadhyay, S., Shyamsundar, P. & Xie, M. (2010). Transferring Irrigation Management to Farmer’s Associations : Evidence from the Philippines. Water Policy, 12, 444–460.
Kumar, K.S.K., Shyamsundar, P. & Nambi, A.A. (2010). Economics of Climate Change Adaptation in India. Economic and Political Weekly, 45, 25–29.
2009
Bandyopadhyay, S., Humavindu, M., Shyamsundar, P. & Wang, L. (2009). Benefits to local communities from community conservancies in Namibia: an assessment. Development Southern Africa, 26, 733–754.
2008
Shyamsundar, P. (2008). Decentralization, Devolution, and Collective Action—A Review of International Experience. In: Promise, Trust and Evolution (eds. Ghate, R., Jodha, N. & Mukhopadhyay, P.). Oxford University Press.
2007
Devarajan, S., Ferro, M.V., Shah, S. & Shyamsundar, P. (2007). Accelerating Poverty Reduction in South Asia by Scaling Economics Education and Policy Research. In: Capacity Building in Economics Education and Research (eds. Bourguignon, F., Elkana, Y. & Pleskovic, B.). The World Bank, Washington, D.C.
2004
Dasgupta, P., Shyamsundar, P. & Mäler, K.-G. (2004). The economics of environmental change and pollution management—issues and approaches from South Asia. Environment and Development Economics, 9, 9–18.
1998
Bernow, S., Costanza, R., Daly, H., DeGennaro, R., Erlandson, D., Ferris, D., Hawken, P., Hoerner, J.A., Lancelot, J., Marx, T., Norland, D., Peters, I., Roodman, D., Schneider, C., Shyamsundar, P. & Woodwell, J. (1998). Society News: Ecological tax reform. BioScience, 48, 193–196.
1997
Shyamsundar, P. (1997). Benefit-cost analysis as a mechanism for evaluating conservation policies in developing countries. Environment and Development Economics, 2, 195–221.
Shyamsundar, P. & Kramer, R. (1997). Biodiversity Conservation: At What Cost? A Study of Households in the Vicinity of Madagascar’s Mantadia National Park. Ambio, 26, 180–184.
1996
Shyamsundar, P. (1996). Constraints on socio-buffering around the Mantadia National Park in Madagascar. Environmental Conservation, 23, 67–73.
Shyamsundar, P. & Kramer, R.A. (1996). Tropical Forest Protection: An Empirical Analysis of the Costs Borne by Local People. Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, 31, 129–144.
1994
Shyamsundar, P. & Lanier, G.K. (1994). Biodiversity prospecting: an effective conservation tool? Tropical Biodiversity, 2, 441–446.