Harini Nagendra is an Indian ecologist who uses satellite remote sensing coupled with field studies of biodiversity, archival research, institutional analysis, and community interviews to examine the factors shaping the social-ecological sustainability of forests and cities in the south Asian context.

[8] Nagendra served as Hubert H Humphrey Distinguished Visiting Professor at Macalester College, Saint Paul, Minnesota in 2013.

She also engages with international research, including being on the Steering Committee of the Programme for Ecosystem Change and Society and a Lead Author on the 5th IPCC Report – Working Group III.

[8] Nagendra's recent book “Nature in the City: Bengaluru in the Past, Present, and Future” (Oxford University Press India, 2016) examines the transformation of human-nature interactions in Bangalore from the 6th century CE to the present, addressing the implications of such change for the urban sustainability of fast-growing cities in the global South.

[8] She is a recipient of a 2013 Elinor Ostrom Senior Scholar award for her research and practice on issues of the urban commons.