Dr Pant’s research broadly attempts to answer overarching questions, such as: Why is modern science, technology and engineering alone insufficient to improve livelihoods of the world’s poorest, most vulnerable or marginalized in current and future generations?

Dr Pant’s current and future research interests involve the following three overlapping streams of work.

Geographies of regional and rural innovation

This stream of research is the latest in the field of agricultural and environmental sustainability. Innovation and development performance of a region depends not only on scientific research excellence and technological innovations but also on how the public, private and non-profit private actors, in their effort to co-create and use knowledge, interact with each other and with the enabling environment (e.g., policy and infrastructure). Dr Pant’s research and development practice aim to promote accessibility and adaptability of new and emerging technologies through stakeholder participation in co-creation and development of low-carbon and climate-resilient food systems.

Community engagement

Dr Pant recognises that community engagement in the 21st-century is an applied field of knowledge translation and exchange, also called knowledge mobilization in some quarters. Conventionally, community engagement in agricultural science, technology and engineering involved ‘transfer of technology’ interventions, such as field trials, field days, demonstrations, citizen panels and consensus conferences. As a departure from the conventional practice, Dr Pant has taken an innovation systems approach to community engagement involving end-users in the design and delivery of extension and advisory services, such as farmers’ field schools, innovation platforms, and community-based participatory research and development.

Pedagogy and the practice of teaching controversial topics

Dr Pant acknowledges that students bring their passion for solving societal problems, such as poverty, hunger, malnutrition, ecological degradation, and climate change. He is always prepared to listen and share his passion with students and yet remains critical to the controversial nature of many interventions. In his effort to inspire learning and motivate critical thinking, Dr Pant has contributed to course design/redesign initiatives and also conducted research on pedagogy and the practice of teaching controversial topics. He presented this research in various scholarly events, including the annual meetings of the Canadian Association of Geographers.

Dr Pant acts as the Programme Leader for a proposed BA in Human Geography which is expected to complement NRI’s current BSc in Geography.

He has substantial experience in knowledge translation and exchange in various contexts, including stakeholder meetings, policy workshops, social media engagement and the popular press. The following articles are some of the examples of his recent efforts to engage with a broader audience outside academia.

Rising eco-anxiety means we should address mental health alongside food security, https://theconversation.com/rising-eco-anxiety-means-we-should-address-mental-health-alongside-food-security-123739

How to fight climate change in agriculture while protecting jobs, https://theconversation.com/how-to-fight-climate-change-in-agriculture-while-protecting-jobs-109712

Addressing food insecurity in the digital age, https://theconversation.com/addressing-food-insecurity-in-the-digital-age-112501

What climate change will mean for jobs in food and agriculture in Canada, https://ceric.ca/2019/10/what-climate-change-will-mean-for-jobs-in-food-and-agriculture-in-canada/

Dr Pant has been working on a project entitled ‘Assessing the impact of climate change on food system diversity in the arid mountains of Nepal’, 2019-2021, in collaboration with Arrell Food Institute and the Department of Geography, Environment & Geomatics, University of Guelph. This research has been funded by the Insight Development Grant of Canada’s Humanities and Social Sciences Research Council (SSHRC).

Dr Pant works as an academic facilitator for World Accord’s RENEW project in Nepal, 2019-2024. This project is funded by Global Affairs Canada (GAC) and focuses on the development of micro and small-scale enterprises to empower women and girls whose livelihoods primarily depend on smallholder farming.

Dr Pant’s work was also supported by the United States National Science Foundation (NSF), through his participation in the Winter School on Anticipatory Governance of Emerging Technologies, Arizona State University, and subsequent collaboration with the School for the Future of Innovation in Society.

Journal articles:

• Bhattarai, Kiran Kumari, FitzGibbon, John and Pant, Laxmi (2023) Rethinking collaborative governance: contested legitimacy of the Melamchi inter-basin water transfer for municipal use in Nepal. Regional Environmental Change. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10113-023-02157-5
• Dyer, Sarah, Hill, Jennifer, Walkington, Helen, Couper, Pauline, McMorran, Chris, Oates, Yvonne, Pant, Laxmi, Rink, Bradley and West, Harry (2023) Courageous and compassionate teaching: international reflections on our responses to teaching geography during the pandemic. Journal of Geography in Higher Education. https://doi.org/10.1080/03098265.2023.2266999
• Bhattarai, Kiran Kumari, FitzGibbon, John and Pant, Laxmi Prasad (2023) Rethinking collaborative governance to enhance legitimacy co-production: a multipurpose rural-urban water transfer in Nepal. International Journal of Water Resources Development. , 39:5, 846-868 https://doi.org/10.1080/07900627.2023.2218492
• KC, Krishna Bahadur, Tzadok, Edan and Pant, Laxmi (2022) Himalayan ecosystem services and climate change driven agricultural frontiers: a scoping review. Discover Sustainability, 3 (1):35. https://doi.org/10.1007/s43621-022-00103-9
• Devkota, Rachana, Pant, Laxmi Prasad, Odame, Helen Hambly, Paudyal, Bimala Rai and Bronson, Kelly (2022) Rethinking gender mainstreaming in agricultural innovation policy in Nepal: a critical gender analysis. Agriculture and Human Values, 39 (4). pp. 1373-1390. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10460-022-10326-1
• Bhattarai, Kiran Kumari, Pant, Laxmi and FitzGibbon, John (2020) Contested governance of drinking water provisioning services in Nepal’s transboundary river basins. Ecosystem Services, 45. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecoser.2020.101184
• Eidt, C.M., Pant, L.P., and Hickey, G.M. (2020) Platform, Participation, and Power: How Dominant and Minority Stakeholders Shape Agricultural Innovation. Sustainability, 12 (2), p. 461 https://doi.org/10.3390/su12020461
• Devkota, R., Pant, L.P., Gartaula, H.N., Patel, K., Gauchan, D., Hambly-Odame, H., Thapa, B., and Raizada, M.N. (2020) Responsible Agricultural Mechanization Innovation for the Sustainable Development of Nepal’s Hillside Farming System. Sustainability, 12(1), p. 374. https://doi.org/10.3390/su12010374
• Rotz, S., Gravely, E., Mosby, I., LeBlanc, J., Duncan, E., Finnis, E., Horgan, M., Martin, R., Neufeld, H. T., Pant, L. P., Shalla, V., and Fraser, E. (2019) Automated pastures and the digital divide: How agricultural technologies are shaping labour and rural communities. Journal of Rural Studies, 68, pp. 112-22. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jrurstud.2019.01.023.
• Pant, L. P. (2019) Responsible innovation through conscious contestation at the interface of agricultural science, policy and civil society. Agriculture and Human Values, 36 (2), pp. 183–197. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10460-019-09909-2
• Pant, L. P., and Hambly-Odame, H. (2017) Broadband for a sustainable digital future of rural communities: A reflexive interactive assessment. Journal of Rural Studies, 54, pp. 435-450. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jrurstud.2016.09.003.
• Pant, L. P. (2016) Paradox of Mainstreaming Agroecology for Regional and Rural Food Security in Developing Countries. Technological Forecasting and Social Change, 111, pp. 305-316. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.techfore.2016.03.001.
• Pant, L. P., Adhikari, B., and Bhattarai, K. K. (2015) Adaptive Transition for Transformations to Sustainability in Developing Countries. Current Opinion in Environmental Sustainability, 14, pp. 206-212. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cosust.2015.07.006.
• KC, K. B., Pant, L. P., Fraser, E., Shrestha, P. K., Shrestha, D., and Lama, A. (2015) Assessing links between crop diversity and food self-sufficiency in three agroecological regions of Nepal. Regional Environmental Change, 16(5), pp. 1239–1251. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10113-015-0851-9.
• Pant, L. P, K. KC, K. B., Fraser, E., Shrestha, P. K., Lama, A., Jirel, S.K., and Chaudhary, P. (2014) Adaptive Transition Management for Transformations to Agricultural Sustainability in the Karnali Mountains of Nepal. Agroecology and Sustainable Food Systems, 38(10), pp. 1156-1183. https://doi.org/10.1080/21683565.2014.942022.
• Pant, L. P. (2014) Critical Systems of Learning and Innovation Competence for Addressing Complexity in Transformation to Agricultural Sustainability. Agroecology and Sustainable Food Systems, 38(3), pp. 336-365. https://doi.org/10.1080/21683565.2013.833157.
• Bhattarai, K. K. and Pant, L. P. (2013) Patriarchal Bargains in Protected Spaces: A New Strategy for Agricultural and Rural Development Innovation in the Hills of Nepal, Canadian Journal of Development Studies, 34(4): 461-481. https://doi.org/10.1080/02255189.2013.830967.
• Pant, L. P. (2012) Learning and Innovation Competence in Agricultural and Rural Development. The Journal of Agricultural Education and Extension 18(3): 205-230. https://doi.org/10.1080/1389224X.2012.670050.

Book reviews:

• Pant, Laxmi Prasad (2020) Transforming industrial food systems to prevent future disruptions. Journal of Agriculture, Food Systems, and Community Development, 9 (4). pp. 1-3. https://doi.org/10.5304/jafscd.2020.094.023
• Pant, L. P. (2016) Digitally Engaged Rural Community Development. Journal of Agriculture, Food Systems, and Community Development, 6(4), 169-171.  https://doi.org/10.5304/jafscd.2016.064.005.
• Pant, L. P. (2015) Contested Agronomy: Agricultural Research in a Changing World. Journal of Agricultural Education and Extension, 21(4), pp. 389-391. https://doi.org/10.1080/1389224X.2015.1064597.
• Pant, L. P. (2014) Long-Term Solutions for a Short-Term World: Canada and Research Development. Canadian Journal of Development Studies, 35(2), pp. 329-331. https://doi.org/10.1080/02255189.2014.906349.

Dr Pant contributes to human geography/food systems and divides his time between research and teaching activities. He acts as the Programme Leader for the proposed BA in Human Geography.

• Member, Canadian Association of Geographers (CAG)

• Contributing Author, IPCC Sixth Assessment’s Special Report on Climate Change and Land

• World Accord Advisory Committee Member, World Accord, Waterloo, Ontario

• Study and Development Fellowship, The Office of the Provost (Academic), University of Guelph

• Research Grant Reviewer, Social Science and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC), Canada

• The award of ‘Best Paper 2012’, The Journal of Agricultural Education and Extension

• IDRC Doctoral Research Award

• Norwegian Agency for International Development (NORAD) Fellowship

• The Tribhuvan University Chancellor’s Gold Medal

ORCID

https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2444-5392

LinkedIn

https://www.linkedin.com/in/laxmi-pant-phd-788646152/

Google Scholar

https://scholar.google.co.uk/citations?hl=en&user=8Op95q8AAAAJ&view_op=list_works&citft=1&citft=2&citft=3&email_for_op=lppant%40gmail.com&gmla=AJsN-F6RqCZTshxDze3o8Cc7AyaSsiYUNE4lZubkuLAYnKAnv0Z4Yk0-38DofAVpe1dPw1C-z1ZDxaMUYF55_k-taE3ow6SRgg

Research Gate

https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Laxmi_Pant