Scaling Solutions or Crisis? Carbon Abstraction and the Ground of Climate Action

Fall 2026 Harry ’51 and Joshua ’49 Tsujimoto Perspectives in Global Development and the Environment Seminar Series

About the speaker

Nikhit Agrawal is a postdoctoral associate working on carbon and data governance in the Natural Resources and the Environment program at Cornell University. He completed his PhD in sociocultural anthropology at UCLA in March 2026. His research examines tech-entrepreneurial promises of scaling sustainability in contemporary agriculture. Agrawal’s work has been published or forthcoming in Economic Anthropology, Critique of Anthropology, Journal of Agrarian Change, Economic & Political Weekly, Scroll.in, The Wire, India in Transition, and The Indian Express. He has received grants from the Wenner-Gren Foundation, the UCLA International Institute and the Center for India and South Asia. His awards include the Robert B. Edgerton Endowed Award and the Eric R. Wolf Award from the Society for the Anthropology of Work, American Anthropological Association. He holds a BTech in Computer Science and Engineering from IIT Delhi and an MA in Sociology from the University of Delhi.

Abstract

TBD

About the seminar series

The Harry ’51 & Joshua ’49 Tsujimoto Perspectives in Global Development and the Environment Seminar Series showcases innovative approaches to development with experts from around the globe. Each year, the series attracts online registrants from over 45 countries and more than 350 organizations. 

Seminars are held Wednesdays from 12:20-1:10 p.m. Eastern time during the semester in 175 Warren Hall. Students, faculty and the general public are welcome to attend in-person or via Zoom.

The series is co-sponsored by the Sections of Global Development and Natural Resources and the Environment and the Charles H. Dyson School of Applied Economics and Management as part of courses GDEV 4961, AEM 4961, NTRES 4961, GDEV 6960, AEM 6960, and NTRES 6960.