Bhawna is a Manager with the Climate Resilience Practice Program at the World Resources Institute India. She is an economist with research experience in conducting vulnerability and risk assessments, strategies for building climate resilience, and mainstreaming climate adaptation into development policies.

In her current position, she is engaged in the development of tools and frameworks for the assessment of climate impacts and vulnerabilities faced by Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) in India, promotes adoption of localized resilience strategies and works towards the alignment of climate adaptation efforts with policy priorities through strategic research, stakeholder engagement, and capacity building initiatives.

Prior to WRI, Bhawna worked with Development Monitoring & Evaluation Office of NITI Aayog, Delhi. There she contributed to design and implementation of evaluation for flagship schemes of Government of India. Bhawna has also worked as a Researcher with ICAR-National Institute of Agricultural Economics and Policy Research (NIAP), New Delhi under the comprehensive project of NICRA. Her research at ICAR-NIAP focused on building resilience of Indian agriculture to climate change and emphasized the importance of developing region-specific adaptation strategies for climate-smart agriculture and bridging the gap between local needs and national policies to build long-term climate resilience.

Bhawna holds a master’s in economics from Jamia Millia Islamia University, New Delhi, and a bachelor’s in economics (with honors) from University of Delhi.

She currently resides in Mumbai with her husband and enjoys cooking, painting, and nature walks.