Paroma Wagle

Dr. Paroma Wagle is an Assistant Professor of Urban and Environmental Policy and Planning at the School of Public and International Affairs, Virginia Tech. Before joining Virginia Tech, Dr. Wagle was a Presidents’ Excellence Chair (PEC) Network Cultures Postdoctoral Fellow jointly appointed in the Departments of Geography and English Language and Literatures at The University of British Columbia (UBC). She received her Ph.D. in Urban and Environmental Planning and Policy from the University of California, Irvine (2020). She also has two master’s degrees: Master of Research in Social Science Research Methods (Specialization: International Development) awarded by the University of East Anglia, United Kingdom; and Erasmus Mundus Master of Science in Environmental Sciences, Policy, and Management awarded jointly by Central European University in Hungary, Lund University in Sweden, Manchester University in the United Kingdom, and Aegean University in Greece.

Dr. Wagle’s research focuses on themes of urban climate justice, inequalities in urban infrastructural access (particularly water), and urban social movements, primarily in the Global South. She also has active research projects on the themes of women leaders and inclusive city-making, as well as data centers and regional development policies. Her work has drawn conceptually and theoretically from the fields of urban geography, urban political ecology, urban planning and policy, environmental planning and policy,  international development, and systems thinking.

Wagle specializes in:

• Urban climate justice
• Inequalities in urban services, especially in water access
• Urban and environmental planning and policy
• Urban geography
• Environmental sustainability
• Interacting human-environment systems
• Political ecology