DFM Students

We are pleased to highlight the participation of graduate students in the DFM project. So far we have hosted seven PhD students and one Master’s student at three Canadian universities, as well as one affiliated overseas Master’s student.

PhD students

Iroshani Madu Galappaththi (University of Waterloo)

Iroshani Madu Galappaththi is currently in the second year of her doctoral degree program in Social and Ecological Sustainability at the School of Environment, Resources and Sustainability, University of Waterloo. Her research focuses on governance and institutional context of dried fish value chains to identify opportunities for transformation in support of human wellbeing and ecosystem sustainability. Madu has been awarded a Gender Equity Research Grant by the University of Waterloo in support of her research work.

Sisir Kanta Pradhan (University of Waterloo)

Sisir Kanta Pradhan has completed the coursework for his PhD in the School of Environment, Enterprise and Development at the University of Waterloo. Sisir presented a poster on Social-ecological systems perspective of dried fish in West Bengal in University of Waterloo during World Wetland Day. He participated as a discussant in the TBTI special session for MARE People and Sea Conference: Transdisciplinary Fisheries Sciences for Blue Justice: The Need to Go Between, Across and Beyond. He also participated in the summer field school at Chilika on Governance and Change.

Mahfuzar Rahman (University of Manitoba)

Mahfuzar Rahman is currently in the second year of his doctoral program in the Department of Anthropology at the University of Manitoba. His doctoral research is aiming to map out the social value chains in Northeast South Asia with particular attention to human rights issues and the food and nutrition security of the region.

Sami Farook (University of Manitoba)

Sami, who is studying at the University of Manitoba, intends undertake a trend analysis using the 2000-2016 Bangladesh household income and expenditure surveys.

Wae Win Khaing (University of Manitoba)

Originally from Myanmar, Wae Win is working on her PhD at the University of Manitoba. Wae Win will study social relations and gender in dried fish value chains.

Jessie Varquez (University of Manitoba)

Jessie Varquez is currently doing ethnographic fieldwork on Bantayan Island for his doctoral thesis in anthropology. He investigates human-rabbitfish relations through the lens of social wellbeing, assemblage, and governmentality. In particular, he looks at a dried fish commodity locally called "boneless danggit", which commands a high price and is widely consumed throughout the Philippines, as a reference and vantage point toward understanding the complex issues of coastal ecology, small-scale fisheries, artisanal dried fish making, gender, coastal governance, and other attendant issues and themes.

Master's students

Nova Almine (Memorial University)

Nova is studying dried fish and fisheries in Thailand.

Aklima Akter (University of Manitoba)

Aklima is studying gender issues among women engaged in the dried fish sector of Bangladesh.

Alexia Pigeault (IMBRSea)

Alexia, an affiliated student in the European International Master of Science in Marine Biological Resources / IMBRSea, studied communications within the DFM project.

A Myint Zu (AIT)

Will be studying social dimensions of dried fish value chains in Myanmar, under the supervision of Kyoko Kusakabe at the Asian Institute of Technology in Bangkok.

Nang Lun Kham Synt (Ying) (AIT)

Will be studying social dimensions of dried fish value chains in Myanmar, under the supervision of Kyoko Kusakabe at the Asian Institute of Technology in Bangkok.

Si Thu Lin (AIT)

Will be studying social dimensions of dried fish value chains in Myanmar, under the supervision of Kyoko Kusakabe at the Asian Institute of Technology in Bangkok.

Myo Zaw Aung (AIT)

Will be studying social dimensions of dried fish value chains in Myanmar, under the supervision of Kyoko Kusakabe at the Asian Institute of Technology in Bangkok.

Undergraduate students

Meaghan Fallak (University of Winnipeg)

Meaghan worked in collaboration with Dr. Kirit Patel as part of her undergraduate program in International Development Studies, to examine the implementation of the Street Vendors’ Right to Livelihood and Regulation of Street Vending Act, 2014. The Act has the potential to positively impact the livelihoods of street vendors including dried fish vendors. Meaghan aims to publish two related papers in collaboration with Dr. Patel. Dried Fish Matters sponsored Meaghan to complete a report detailing her research on dried fish vending in Visakhapatnam and how the Street Vendors’ Act, 2014 will affect the livelihoods of dried fish vendors in Visakhapatnam and across India