Nikhil Anand

Nikhil Anand is the Daniel Braun Silvers and Robert Peter Silvers Family Presidential Professor of Anthropology at the University of Pennsylvania, where he serves as Interim Director of the Center for the Advanced Study of India (CASI) and Director of Envirolab. His research explores the political ecology of cities through the lens of water infrastructure, focusing on urbanism, state power, and climate change in South Asia and the United States.

• Education:
  • Ph.D. in Anthropology, Stanford University (2011)
  • MESc in Forestry and Environmental Studies, Yale University (2004)
  • B.A., Reed College (1998)

His research examines how water infrastructure shapes citizenship and state formation, particularly in coastal cities facing climate change. Key projects include Hydraulic City (award-winning book on Mumbai's water systems), Urban Seas (coastal planning), and collaborative initiatives Rising Waters and Inhabited Sea, which analyze climate-induced urban transformations.

Themes in his recent 15 articles span infrastructure breakdowns, climate adaptations, and water-related citizenship struggles. These works often intersect urban anthropology, political ecology, and postcolonial studies, emphasizing coastal vulnerability, hydraulic governance, and slow violence against marginalized communities.

• Scientific Awards:
  • Junior Scholar Prize, Anthropology and Environment Society (2014)
  • Fellowships at Princeton's IAS, University of Minnesota, and Stanford
• Grants:
  • National Science Foundation
  • Wenner-Gren Foundation
  • SSRC
  • Penn Global Inquiries Fellowship

Anand leads collaborative research initiatives involving architects, scientists, and policymakers to reimagine coastal cities. His work bridges anthropology, environmental humanities, and urban planning, with a focus on Mumbai and Philadelphia as sites of climate vulnerability and innovation.