Biography: 

Shahana Akther is a researcher and Honorary Research Associate in Geography at the University of Manchester, UK. She recently completed her PhD in Human Geography at the University of Manchester, where her research focused on the evolution of municipal solid waste management and governance in Dhaka, Bangladesh. Her research interests include waste governance, waste politics, resource recovery, urban governance, infrastructure, urban livelihoods, climate change, and sustainable waste management. Her work examines the social, economic, and political factors that influence waste management systems, particularly in cities of the Global South.

Prior to her doctoral research at Manchester, Shahana worked for seven years as a faculty member in the Department of Geography and Environment at Jagannath University, Dhaka, Bangladesh. She has also contributed to teaching in Human Geography and Environmental Processes and Change at the University of Manchester.

Shahana has published peer-reviewed research on municipal solid waste governance, adaptive governance, recycling, source segregation, resource recovery, and environmental management. Her recent publications include research on the evolution of waste management in Dhaka and the challenges of promoting source segregation and recycling in the Global South. Her research contributes to broader discussions on sustainable cities, responsible consumption and production, infrastructure development, and environmental sustainability, with a particular focus on developing practical and adaptive approaches to sustainable waste management.