Bhavna Joshi

Research interests: transdisciplinary research; complex adaptive systems; mixed methods; science and technology studies; environmental sociology

Bio: Bhavna is a fourth-year graduate student in Sociology at Virginia Tech, originally from India. Her research focuses on collaborative Living Lab projects, examining their impacts on farmers, communities, and the environment. She studies how farmers’ work and perceptions evolve through participation, as well as how farmers and transdisciplinary researchers engage in co-design and co-learning processes to influence knowledge production, technology adoption, and sustainable agricultural practices. Before coming to the U.S., Bhavna conducted research in India on topics such as COVID-19, air pollution, and environmental justice, exploring how communities perceive risk and how media and public discourse shape social responses. Her work employs a range of methods-including in-depth interviews, surveys, discourse analysis, and mixed-methods approaches, allowing her to integrate social, environmental, and technological perspectives in understanding complex problems. In Bhavna's spare time, she enjoys catching up with family, exploring new places, trying new recipes, and listening to music.