Lopa has a PhD in Environmental Economics and Environmental Management from the University of York, UK, and an MPhil in Applied Economics from the Centre for Development Studies, Trivandrum (Jawaharlal Nehru University) in India. Before joining Coventry University, she worked as an independent researcher on team projects led by academics at various Universities in the UK. She also worked as a research consultant and was an honorary Non-Resident Fellow of South Asia Watch on Trade, Economics, and Environment (SAWTEE), a regional network of organisations from five South Asian countries.

Lopa's current research is at the forefront of food geographies, focusing on sustainable and resilient food systems, particularly community-led food initiatives and their intersection with nutrition, health, culture, gender, agriculture, and the environment. Her research spans the UK and India and is divided into two key areas. The first area critically evaluates community approaches to food insecurity/poverty, aiming to bridge the gap between research, policy, and practice of food governance involving many levels and actors— state and non-state. The second area explores the complexity of community self-organisation for sustainability and resilience from a social-ecological perspective, specifically focusing on urban biodiversity and rural indigenous food systems. In her teaching role, Lopa leads the MSc module 'Gender, Food Systems, and Natural Resources' and also teaches Ecology on the Apprenticeship Programme at Coventry University. She is currently supervising PhDs on networked food governance for food security, food literacy, health and social justice, and food waste practices and perceptions.

Lopa publishes under her full name: Lopamudra Patnaik Saxena.

In Coventry, where she is based, Lopa is a member of Coventry Food Network and serves as a Founding Trustee of Feeding Coventry. She considers herself a researcher-practitioner, actively involved in local community action to make Coventry a sustainable food city.

She is an active member of various research networks, including the Food Geographies Research Group of the Royal Geographical Society (with the Institute of British Geographers), the Food Action and Research Midlands (FARM) Network, and the Revitalising Rainfed Agriculture Network (RRAN, India). She is also a Founding Member of Feeding Britain’s Academic Advisory Group.

Area of Expertise:

Social Supermarkets & community food provisioning; community food initiatives; food & nutrition security; food poverty & food justice; local food systems & community self-organisation for resilience; food waste management; healthy & sustainable diets; food citizenship & food literacy; social impact of community food initiatives, including agroecological enterprises; evaluation of community food initiatives; Indigenous food systems; environment & development; mixed research methods.

Social Supermarkets; Community Food Initiatives; Sustainable Food Systems; Right to Food; Food Citizenship; Food Literacy; Food Networks & Collaborations; Indigenous Food Systems; Gender & Food Systems.

My research encompasses new and emerging challenges in food studies, which have impacts beyond academia with social, economic, environmental, and cultural benefits. My approach to research has involved fostering connections, collaboration and knowledge exchange between academia and the non-academic sectors, which aligns strongly with a transdisciplinary approach to research. Key questions which guide my research are: how do the complex realities of socio-political-economic-cultural structures within which communities/groups are embedded mediate the experiences, vulnerabilities and capacities of women and men? What are the socially innovative ways in which state and non-state actors can create an enabling environment for vulnerable/marginalised groups, so as to promote a just and sustainable future for all? These are the questions which continue to inspire me to pursue research and support positive change at different levels.