We are very pleased to welcome Lavanya Gupta as our new Blog Editor. Lavanya is a rural geographer and PhD scholar at Tata Institute of Social Sciences, India, where she examines the intersections of innovation, entrepreneurship, and community development in the Himalayan region. Her doctoral research in Munsiyari, Kumaon, explores how cultural entrepreneurship initiatives catalyze rural regeneration. Her previous works investigated pathways for rebuilding rural spaces with women’s traditional knowledge. She has worked with IIT Guwahati on a project on regional food cultures and social dynamics and specializes in left-behind places and rural transformation; she contributes to academic discourse through her role as co-editor of Just Rural Futures and her work advancing feminist geography perspectives in spatial studies.
Lavanya takes over the role of Blog Editor from Brady Reid. Brady said:
“The RSA has been a bit of an academic family for me during the last few years and this role allowed me to gain confidence in myself as an early-career academic. I am thrilled to pass on the role to another fabulous early-career academic who I am sure will make the Blog her own and continue sharing accessible and important research to a broad, global audience.”
We would like to thank Brady for all his hard work in making the RSA Blog such a success, and we look forward to working with Lavanya.
You can find Lavanya on X (formally Twitter): @RuralGeo_AAG @lavanya_G and on Instagram @feministgeographies
If you are interested in writing a Blog for the Regional Studies Association, contact Lavanya at rsablog@regionalstudies.org. Find guidelines here.