Bio

Dr. Ritwick Ghosh studies and teaches environmental governance. In particular, Dr. Ghosh examines the politics, ethics, and practices of using market institutions to address environmental problems on land, such as biodiversity decline, nutrient pollution, and climate change. His work is primarily qualitative and case study based and centered on the role of power and knowledge in shaping environmental policy innovations. Theoretically, Dr. Ghosh contributes to literature in the fields of science and technology studies, human geography, ecological economics, and public administration. He has an international research program, with projects in the US, Europe, India, and South East Asia.

Before joining NC State, Ritwick had a career in economic consulting in Singapore and later with the UNEP initiative The Economics of Ecosystems and Biodiversity in New Delhi. Dr. Ghosh has held faculty positions at New York University and the University of Denver and completed a postdoctoral fellowship with the New Carbon Economy Consortium at Arizona State University.

Research Interests

Environmental Policy and Institutions, Conservation Policy, Payments for Ecosystem Services, Carbon and Biodiversity Offsetting, Nature-based solutions

Area(s) of Expertise

- Environmental Governance
- Science and Technology Studies
- Environmental Sociology
- Political Ecology
- Public Policy

Publications

• A framework for addressing racial and related inequities in conservation , Nature (2026)
• After quantification: Insights from India’s Soil Health Card scheme , Land Use Policy (2026)
• After quantification: Numbers, legitimacy, and state performances , Annual meeting of the Society for the Advancement of Socio-economics (2026)
• Design Fixation in Environmental Markets , Annual Meeting of the American Association of Geographers (AAG) (2026)
• Economic valuation of nature and the environmental state , Economy and Society (2026)
• Moving beyond assessments - insights from India’s Soil Health Card scheme , World Bank Land and Property Research Conference (2026)
• Satellite visions: Assembling a performative environmental state , Critical Environmental Data Studies Workshop (2026)
• Buying nature to save it? From neoliberal failure to markets-at-hand , Environment and Planning E Nature and Space (2025)
• Environmental Governance: Prospects for Innovation , Quarterly meeting of the Science & Technology and Government Affairs Joint Committee of the North Carolina Manufacturers Alliance (NMCA) (2025)
• Ethics and Politics of Forest Offsets in India , Biannual symposium of the RTP Forest Law and Policy Symposium and Dialogue (2025)

View all publications