Nasir Abbas Khan

Brief Profile Summary 

Nasir Abbas Khan is currently working as a postdoctoral fellow at the School of Environmental Design and Rural Development, University of Guelph, Canada. Nasir has a doctoral degree in rural development from China Agricultural University, Beijing, China and a master’s degree in agricultural extension education from the University of Agriculture Faisalabad, Pakistan. Nasir’s research revolves around food, agriculture and the environment and the roles these play in the development of rural communities. Specifically, he studies rural livelihoods’ vulnerabilities to climate change risks by exploring farm-level adoption of climate-smart agriculture technologies and adaptation strategies. His research particularly investigates the institutional dimension of climate change governance, where he evaluates the efficacy of advisory support (including digital extension) provided by agricultural institutions and their preparedness to provide climate risk management support.

Nasir has expertise in micro econometric analysis to study complex rural development issues using various regression and impact assessment models. Nasir’s PhD research focused on assessing climate change adaptation and governance in rural Pakistan, funded by China Scholarship Council (CSC). During his PhD, he was involved in surveying various model villages in five provinces of China under different rural development projects. He was awarded the best doctoral dissertation award by his college, considering the quality of his research work published in reputed international journals.

Following his PhD he acquired the prestigious LONGSHAN postdoc fellowship at the Nanjing University of Information Science and Technology, Nanjing, China, in 2021. He also held another role as a Guest Researcher at the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China, between 2021 and 2023. Along with these positions, Nasir has also been working with the International Poverty Reduction Centre China (IPRCC) as a researcher during his PhD, where he worked on exploring community development programs in developing nations.

Current Responsibilities

Nasir’s current research focuses on climate change and social inequality, climate misinformation in the agri-food context, capacity development of rural communities against climate change risks, digitalization in advisory services, social media, and climate-smart agriculture.

He is working with Dr. Ataharul Chowdhary on a number of projects and initiatives as part of his post-doctoral position at SEDRD.