Dr. Mir Khursheed Alam

Dr. Mir Khursheed Alam holds a Ph.D. from the Indian Institute of Technology Mandi, India. He obtained a master's (Economics) and bachelor's (Economics, Statistics, and English) degrees from the University of Kashmir, Srinagar, Jammu and Kashmir. He qualified for UGC-NET and J&K-SLET in Economics. Mir Khursheed Alam's research lies in the domain of the economics of climate change and adaptation. His research interests aim to assess climate risks by incorporating hazard, vulnerability, and exposure components; socio-environmental vulnerability; and agricultural adaptation in the Himalayan Region. He carried out district-level climate vulnerability and its geospatial analysis; and identified the highly vulnerable and vulnerable-hotspots in the Indian Himalayan region. Currently, his research attempts to understand the relationships between climate risks (emanating from changing climatic conditions and extreme weather events); perception, and adaptation behaviour of the farming community in the Western Indian Himalayan region (W-IHR) at the household level, and investigate the key determinants and barriers of the adaptation process in various agro-ecological zones in Kashmir Valley.

Before joining UPES, Dr. Mir Khursheed Alam was posted as Assistant Professor in Economics, at Presidency University, Bengaluru, Karnataka, India. Also, during his PhD at Indian Institute of Technology Mandi, India, he served as a teaching assistant.

Climate Risk Assessment- Hazard, Vulnerability, and Exposure | Economics of Climate Adaptation in Himalayan Region | Agricultural Adaptation| Spatial analysis of socio-environmental vulnerability | Climate and Development|

The teaching philosophy of Dr. Mir Khursheed Alam attempts to foster and reinforce an inclusive learning environment that empowers students to develop a deep understanding of principles/methods/theories/models in economics discourse; equips students to analyze socially relevant problems/real-world scenarios; encourages scholars’ to challenge assumptions, and foster a culture of intellectual curiosity. His teaching approach is focused on the student’s development of critical thinking skills, applying economic principles to real-world challenges by employing a variety of methods, such as assignments, quizzes, open discussions, pre-teaching readings; case studies, and presentations; and facilitating meaningful discussions among students. His approach is not just memorizing theories/equations/graphs but focuses on posing thought-provoking questions relevant to policymaking. Since teaching-learning is a dynamic process, Dr. Alam is committed to continuous improvement; assessment; and constructive feedback and remains updated on the latest pedagogical research.

Dr. Mir Khursheed Alam has taught several economics courses such as Microeconomics, Macroeconomics, Agricultural economics, Business/Managerial Economics, and Engineering Economics to Bachelor’s students. Currently, he teaches Law and Economics; Business Environment, and Global Context of Business courses.

During his PhD Program, Dr. Mir Khursheed Alam received a contingency grant from the Indian Institute of Technology Mandi, to attend an International Sustainable Development Research Society (ISDRS) 2022 conference in Stockholm, Sweden, hosted by a consortium of six universities based in Stockholm: Marie Cederschiöld University, Stockholm School of Economics, Swedish Defence University, Stockholm University of the Arts, Södertörn University, and University College Stockholm, during June 15- 17, 2022. He presented a paper, titled, Assessing farmers’ perception of climate change and adaptation behaviour: A study of Kashmir valley, Western Indian Himalayan Region” at ISDRS 2022.

Dr. Mir Khursheed Alam's scholarly works have been published in reputed journals (such as Natural Hazards, Springer) and edited volumes (Springer, Nature)  During his PhD tenure, he had an opportunity to work and contribute to the core team engaged with three national-level projects related to the climate vulnerability assessment of districts of the Indian Himalayan Region (IHR); climate vulnerability assessment of Indian districts; and climate risk assessment and mapping of India.

mirkhursheed.alam@ddn.upes.ac.in