I am a Professor in the Department of Anthropology University of California, Santa Cruz. I received my PhD from the Department of Anthropology at Stanford University in 2013, and was a Post-Doctoral fellow at the Department of Social Anthropology at Stockholm University from 2013-2015.

Prior to that I received my Bachelors in Law (LLB) from the Faculty of Law at University of Delhi in 2001 and practised in the Supreme Court of India and the Gauhati High Court in Assam. My legal advocacy work and research continue to focus on land ownership and resource management in Northeast India, including extra constitutional regulations like the Armed Forces Special Powers Act (1958).

My research focuses on resource extraction, militarisation, development, human rights, migration, gender, and political economy.