Safa Fanaian will be working on the project “Global Commission on the economics of Water” with Prof Quentin Grafton, Lead Expert and Commissioner of the Global Commission on the economics of Water. She will also work with the Water Justice Hub and contribute to broader education and research outcomes.  

Dr Fanaian’s PhD research qualitatively and quantitively mapped the co-evolution of water risks and their governance over 45 years within an intermediate riverine city(Guwahati, Assam) in India. She was an Oxford-Indira Gandhi Scholar at the Oxford-India Centre for Sustainable Development, Somerville College, University of Oxford. She is also the recipient of a National Geographic Explorer grant. 

Before her PhD, she worked for more than seven years with various development agencies to improve water security in South Asia. She has an MSc. in Water Management from IHE-Delft, Institute for Water Education, Netherlands and an MSc. in Ecology and Environmental Science from Pondicherry University, India.

Her research interest includes studying urban rivers in low and middle-income countries, water justice, and unpacking sustainable finance for water