gauthami penakalapati

Hi there!

I’m Gauthami Penakalapati, a PhD candidate in the Energy & Resources Group at UC Berkeley. My research is interdisciplinary and intersects global development, public health, science & technology studies, and geography. I have a MPH in Global Health from Rollins School of Public Health, Emory University. I completed by BS in Biology from the Georgia Institute of Technology.

The primary objective of my research is to understand how empowerment and gender equity measures and programs are created, deployed, and researched. I am motivated by questions such as: what is the role of women and girls empowerment programs in changing social norms? What are the dominant theoretical framings of empowerment in global development and health programs in South Asia? I also interested in global health pedagogy and participating in open and collaborative scholarship approaches. I employ mixed-methods research including social network analysis, qualitative interviews and discussions, surveys, and comprehensive review methods.

I am currently a Facebook Research Fellow and Wiki-verified for the f-diagram. I enjoy dog-friendly hikes in the Bay Area, gardening at the community Gill Tract Farm, getting my steps in at museums, and reading/watching feminist sci-fi. I also have a creative practice of cyanotypes and photography. You’ll probably find me with my 35mm Nikon FE.

Prior to Berkeley, I was a technical advisor for UNICEF exploring the menstrual hygiene management challenges for adolescent schoolgirls in Ghana, Rwanda, and Zambia. I also conducted extensive systematic reviews assessing the impacts of sanitation on health and the human health impacts from exposure to animal feces. I was research assistant with Innovations for Poverty Action (IPA) on the WASH-Benefits randomized-control trial in Bungoma, Kenya where I managed behavioral change interventions and helped develop the Povu-Poa, a low-cost handwashing system. 

I currently reside on the territory of Xučyun (Huichin), the ancestral and unceded land of the Chochenyo Ohlone, the successors of the historic and sovereign Verona Band of Alameda County. I recognize benefit from the use and occupation of this land. By offering this Land Acknowledgement, I affirm Indigenous sovereignty. Thank you to Native American Student Development for their labor and guidance on this land acknowledgement. 

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