Associate Professor, Environmental Studies, Natural Resources

Dr. Bindu Panikkar is an Assistant Professor at the Rubenstein School of Environment and Natural Resources, a Henderson Fellow, and a Gund Fellow at the University of Vermont.

Her current research projects examines the governance of risks within the permitting process of newly proposed mines in Alaska, as it pertains to increased access to remote Arctic regions as a consequence to climate change (NSF); Inuit challenges to navigation, food security and health from sea ice changes in the Northwest Passage; a citizen science/community-based research project to monitor species diversity, wildlife health, and environmental change in Yukon and Nunavut.

Her previous research focus and interests has included the social, and political challenges involved in the continued operation of the Pilgrim Nuclear Power Station past its design life, reflexive research ethics in fetal tissue xenotransplantation research (NIEHS), occupational health issues among immigrant workers (NIOSH), the ethics of uranium mining research, and the teratogenic effects of depleted uranium.

Dr. Panikkar is an interdisciplinary scholar and works within the intersection of Environmental Health, Environmental Justice, Environmental Policy, and Science, Technology, and Society Studies.

Publications

  • Panikkar B and Tolefson J. Land as material, habitat and knowledge: Constructions of resource materialities in Bristol Bay. Social Studies of Science.  (In Review)
  • Panikkar B, Lemmond, B, Else B, and Murray M. Ice over troubled waters: Navigating the Northwest Passage using Inuit knowledge and scientific information. Climate Research. 2017. (Accepted)
  • Gould R, Phukan I, Mendoza M, Mardon N, and Panikkar B. Seizing opportunities to diversity conservation. Conservation Letters. 2017. (Accepted).
  • Panikkar B. Gute DM, Brugge D, Woodin M and Hyatt R. “They See Us as Machines:” The Narrative of Recent Immigrant Women in the Low Skilled Informal Labor Sector. PLoS One. 2015. Nov 24:10(11).
  • Panikkar B and Sandler R. Nuclear Energy, Justice and Power: The case of Pilgrim Nuclear Power Station License renewal. In Taebi B and Roesner S. (Ed) The Ethics of Nuclear Energy: Risk, Justice, and Democracy in the Post-Fukushima Era. Cambridge University Press. 2015.
  • Panikkar B. Woodin M,  Brugge D, Hyatt R, Community Partners of the Somerville Community Immigrant Worker Project and Gute DM. Characterizing the Low Wage Immigrant Workforce: A Comparative Analysis of the Health Disparities Among Selected Occupations in Somerville, Massachusetts. American Journal of Industrial Medicine 2013.
  • Panikkar B. Smith N. and Brown P. Reflexive research ethics in fetal tissue xenotransplantation research. Accountability in Research. 2012,19:344–369. NIHMSID # 470419
Bindu outdoors with UVM Stem buildings in the background

Areas of Expertise and/or Research

Research: Environmental health, community-based research, environmental policy, natural resources, Arctic environment and health, environmental health social movements, environmental justice

Education

  • PhD, Environmental Health, Tufts University
  • MS, Environmental Health, Tufts University
  • MA, Environmental Policy and Planning, Tufts University
  • BA, Literature, University of Kerala

Contact

Office Location:

312H Aiken Center