Dr Nazifa Ahmed holds an M Phil and a PhD in human geography with a specialisation in Social Geography from Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi. She is a recipient of the Maulana Azad National Fellowship and has qualified the UGC NET and CSIR NET.

Nazifa’s research centres on the Miya community, who inhabit the River Brahmaputra’s ephemeral riverine islands or chars. Drawing on the frameworks of social ecology and political economy, her work explores the histories of migration of the community that inform many of the political anxieties in the state of Assam.

The role of the state machinery in appropriating the hybrid-fertile charscapes through mass evictions of Miyas, and the impact of climate crises in deepening dispossession are key narratives her work strives to explore. Through these themes, she seeks to trace the historical trajectories of marginalisation.

Prior to joining Krea University, she taught undergraduate courses at Jamia Millia Islamia, New Delhi. She had also worked on research projects at Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS), Mumbai, focussing on women slum dwellers across urban India, and on Denotified Tribes living on the peripheries of Delhi. Her most recent research engagement involved an implementation study of the National Register of Citizens (NRC) in Assam at the Centre for Internet and Society (CIS), Delhi.

Publications

• ‘Ephemeral char ecosystems and mitigation of flood induced vulnerability along River Brahmaputra’, In Subhas Anand et. al. (eds.), Sustainable Development Goals in Northeast India- Challenges and Achievements. Advances in Geographical and Environmental Sciences, Singapore: Springer, 2023, pp. 431-442. ISBN: 978-981-19-6477-0.
• ‘Making peace with ethnic slurs: The ontological implications of the terms ‘Miya’ and ‘Gedi’ ’. In Rehna Sultana et. al. (eds.), Half the Sky: A Sociological Exploration into Gender Issues, Guwahati: Purbayon Publication, 2022, pp. 52- 62. ISBN: 978-93-93881-58-8
• Book Project: Social Ecology and Political Economy in the Chars of Assam (Forthcoming 2028)

Teaching Modules

At Krea University, she offers a bevy of courses for SIAS, ranging from:

• Design Thinking
• Data Analytics
• Scientific Reasoning
• Engaging with the Environment
• Creative Expression
• Research Methods for the Social, Political, and Historical (Co-taught with Dr Sumitra Ranganathan)

She also offers a foundational course on Environmental Studies for BBA at IFMR GSB.