Rate My Professor Deepti Chatti

Deepti Chatti served as an Assistant Professor in the Environmental Studies Program at Cal Poly Humboldt, joining the institution in 2018. She holds a Ph.D. in Environmental Studies and an M.Phil. in Environmental Studies from Yale University, an M.S. in Environmental Engineering and Science from Stanford University, and a B.E. in Civil Engineering from Osmania University. As a critical social scientist of energy and the environment, Chatti conducted ethnographic research in India and the United States, focusing on clean energy access, sustainable development, climate justice, and public health impacts. Her affiliations included the Fire Resilience Institute, the Environment & Community graduate program, the Energy, Technology, & Policy graduate program, and she served as a faculty research associate at the Schatz Energy Research Center. Chatti contributed to interdisciplinary initiatives, such as the 'Smoke, Air, Fire, Energy (SAFE) in Rural California' project, reflecting critical reflections on collaborative research addressing rural environmental challenges.

Chatti's scholarly impact is evidenced by her receipt of the 2021 Alastair McCrone Promising Faculty Scholars Award, which included a $1,500 stipend in recognition of her outstanding contributions and promise as a scholar. Her publications include peer-reviewed articles such as 'From moral ecology to diverse ontologies: relational values in human ecological research, past and present' in Current Opinion in Environmental Sustainability (2018, 84 citations), 'Exploring the mundane: Towards an ethnographic approach to bioenergy' in Energy Research & Social Science (2017, 71 citations), 'The political ecology of knowledge and ignorance' in The Brown Journal of World Affairs (2017), 'Drawing on knowledge: Visual narrative analysis for critical environment and development research' in Environment and Planning E: Nature and Space (2022), and 'Disrupting the Grid: Encountering Fire and Smoke through Energy Infrastructures' in Environment and Society (2023). She has authored five journal articles and two book chapters in recent years, alongside work on a book manuscript examining clean energy transition technologies and transnational projects on air pollution, climate change, and poverty alleviation in India. Chatti's research bridges engineering, social sciences, and humanities to address global environmental challenges.