Lakshmi Pradeep Rajeswary

Lakshmi Pradeep Rajeswary is a postdoctoral scholar (Research Fellow) at the Max Planck Institute for the History of Science (MPIWG) in Department III, focusing on interdisciplinary research at the intersection of environmental anthropology, science and technology studies, and island studies. She previously held a postdoctoral research fellowship at the International Institute for Asian Studies, Leiden University, Netherlands.

• Education: PhD in South Asian Studies from the National University of Singapore (2023), with a dissertation titled 'Coral Worlds: An Anthropological Study of Island Protection and Conservation in Lakshadweep in the Indian Ocean.'

Her research examines science and indigeneity in Indian coral islands through ethnographic methods, with current projects including Coral Communities and Their Cosmologies (2024–2027) and participation in the 'Sea Lexicon' project for the Southern Collective via the Transregional Collaboratory on the Indian Ocean. She is adapting her dissertation into a book.

• Scientific Awards:
  • PAST grant for 'Lakshadweep Islands' archiving project

Lakshmi collaborates on initiatives like the 'Reclaiming Turtles All the Way Down' working group at MPIWG and contributes to research on ecological anthropology, political ecology, and coastal climate change impacts. She has published book reviews (e.g., Unruly Waters, Jinnealogy) and a paper titled Remote to Connected Ethnography: Reflections from the Indian Ocean's Lakshadweep Islands.