Nusrat Molla joined Simon A. Levin and Elke U. Weber’s Labs in July 2023 as a Distinguished Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the Andlinger Center.  She completed her Ph.D. at University of California, Davis, in which she focused on using dynamical systems modeling, sometimes coupled with qualitative analysis, to understand the social dynamics of resource extraction and governance.  This work included, for example, exploring stabilizing and destabilizing factors in governance systems, and conducting a case study in California’s San Joaquin Valley to understand how different water governance structures and management strategies shape different actors’ influence and sensitivity to changes.

She plans to build on this work by modeling the conditions under which rural communities reliant on extractive industries can transition to other livelihoods and forms of production, with a focus on understanding the roles of institutions, attitudes towards adaptation, and building of social capital within communities.  She will use coal mining-reliant communities in Appalachia as a case study, using surveys and interviews with stakeholders to inform model development.