Kamalesh Adhikari

Dr Kamalesh Adhikari is Senior Research Fellow with the ARC Industrial Transformation Training Centre for Uniquely Australian Foods and Associate Research Fellow with the ARC Centre of Excellence for Plant Success in Nature and Agriculture at the The University of Queensland. His current research focusses on socio-legal issues and concerns associated with the collection, use, and circulation of native and indigenous plants, including traditional knowledge. At the ARC Centre, he leads research on native title law and coordinates the development of relationships and agreements between several partners, involving plant scientists, industry stakeholders, and Indigenous partners and communities. He is also a research partner in the Research Council of Norway and the Fridtjof Nansen Institute's Suitable Seeds Project which explores the role that intellectual property has played in shaping the history and practices of gene and seed banks. Dr Adhikari is also undertaking a critical account of the concept of farmers’ rights in intellectual property law. Dr Adhikari previously worked as an AIBE Research Fellow at the Australian Institute of Business and Economics (AIBE) and as Research Director at South Asia Watch on Trade, Economics and Environment. He has undertaken collaborative research with a number of institutions including Consumers International and the Southeast Asian Council for Food Security and Fair Trade (Malaysia), United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation (Italy and Nepal), Fridtjof Nansen Institute and the Development Fund (Norway), International Development Research Centre and International Institute for Sustainable Development (Canada), Sustainable Development Policy Institute (Pakistan), Consumer Unity and Trust Society and Green Foundation (India), Oxfam Novib and Wageningen University (The Netherlands), United Nations Development Programme (Nepal and Sri Lanka), and Institute of Policy Studies and Law and Society Trust (Sri Lanka).