Shwetmala Kashyap is a Program Manager – Food Loss and Waste with the Food, Land and Water program at WRI India. Her primary role involves conducting research and developing policies and strategies to reduce food loss and food waste.

Before joining WRI India, Shwetmala worked as a Senior Research Fellow at Ramaiah Public Policy Center (RPPC), Bengaluru where she received DST-NSTMIS grant to conduct a study on Solid Waste Management. She applied ontological methods to address policy challenges in waste management (solid, biomedical, construction, and e-waste), air pollution, and sanitation workers.

She taught undergraduates at Presidency University, Bengaluru, and conducted a study for a solid waste management status report of the campus. Additionally, she worked at Ashoka Trust for Research in Ecology and the Environment (ATREE), Bengaluru, focusing on decentralized solid waste management innovation. Shwetmala has taught various courses, including Waste Management and Policy, Environmental Geotechnics, Solid Waste Management, Environmental Science, Disaster Management, and Environmental Management. She also designed course modules at RPPC and Presidency University.

Shwetmala earned her Ph.D. in Engineering, specializing in solid waste practices, from the Center for Sustainable Technologies at the Indian Institute of Science (IISc), Bengaluru. She was awarded with Amulya and Vimla Reddy Gold Medal for the best PhD thesis. She also holds dual master’s degrees: an M.Tech. in Environmental Science and Engineering from BIT Mesra, Ranchi, and an M.Sc. in Biotechnology from Visva-Bharati (Central University), West Bengal.

Shwetmala likes reading, going on walks, and listening to music.