Gayatri Vhanbatte is a Junior Program Associate, Geo Analytics at WRI India, where she contributes to processing and analysing multi-source geospatial datasets and using spatial statistics to support evidence-based urban and regional planning.

She has worked on projects spanning urban growth and land use change, flood assessment, crop condition and yield monitoring, transportation and metro accessibility, solid waste management and socio-economic analysis. Before joining WRI India, she served as an Assistant Professor at COEP Technological University, Pune, and Sir M.V. School of Architecture (VTU), Bengaluru, where she taught urban planning and mentored undergraduate and postgraduate students.

She holds a B.Tech in Planning from COEP Technological University, Pune, and an M.Planning in Urban and Regional Planning from the School of Planning and Architecture, Vijayawada. She is currently pursuing a part-time PhD at the Centre for Technology Alternatives for Rural Areas (C-TARA), IIT Bombay, researching the spatio-temporal dynamics of rural-urban fringe regions in relation to urban growth and land use change.

Outside work, she is a trained Bharatanatyam dancer and enjoys swimming and cycling.