Dr Rishu Thakur

Postdoctoral Researcher

Qualifications:

PhD (Microbiology) CSIR-Institute of Himalayan Bioresource Technology, India, 2017 MSc (Microbiology) 2009 BSc (Food Science and Microbiology) 2007 GNDU, India

Location:

Alice Springs, NT

Bibliography:

Rishu Thakur is a postdoctoral researcher with the climate change team. Her current work focuses on improving climate resilience and environmental awareness in remote Australia. Her research integrates citizen science-driven data collection to monitor environmental conditions, documents the lived experiences of remote residents, and co-designs adaptation and mitigation strategies. She is also investigating the impact of extreme heat on healthcare utilization in remote Australia.

With expertise in molecular biology and microbial ecology, her PhD research focused on soil-plant-microbe interactions and the role of soil rhizobacteria in improving crop resilience across diverse environmental settings and climate conditions.

Dr Rishu Thakur
Email
Research Themes
  • Climate Change
  • Environment Monitoring
  • Indigenous health
  • Primary Health Care and Health Systems Research
  1. Mathew, S., Bhatta, M., Baliva, G., Matthews, V., Zander, K. K., Joshy, A. L., Thakur, R et al (2025). Why are solar microgrids not the norm in remote Central Australia? Exploring local perception on solar energy and health. Journal of Cleaner Production. doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2024.144370
  2. Thakur, R., Rana, A., Dhar, H. et al (2024) Enhancing saffron (Crocus sativus L.) growth in the Kashmir valley with resilient and widely effective Plant Growth-Promoting Rhizobacteria (PGPR) under field conditions, Industrial Crops and Product. doi.org/10.1016/j.indcrop.2024.119475
  3. Thakur, R., Dhar, H., Mathew, S, Gulati, A. (2024). PGPR inoculants journey from lab to land: Challenges and limitations. Microbiological Research. doi: 10.1016/j.micres.2024.127910
  4. Thakur, R., Dhar, H., Swarnkar, M. K., Soni, R., Sharma, K. C., Singh, A. K., Gulati, A., Sud, R. K., & Gulati, A. (2024). Understanding the Molecular Mechanism of PGPR Strain Priestia megaterium from Tea Rhizosphere for Stress Alleviation and Crop Growth Enhancement. Plant Stress. doi.org/10.1016/j.stress.2024.100494
  5. Gulati A, Thakur R, Vyas P, Sharma A, Dhar H, Pal M, Thakur N, Kaushal K, Chawla A, Sharma KC, Chauhan PS, Nautiyal CS. (2024). Fostering climate-resilient agriculture with ACC-deaminase producing rhizobacterial biostimulants from the cold deserts of the Indian Himalayas. Journal of Environmental Management. doi.org/10.1016/j.jenvman.2024.123075
  6. Gulati, A., Thakur, R., Soni, R. et al. (2024). Broad-spectrum PGPR strain of Halotalea alkalilenta from the Cold deserts of the Indian trans-himalayas showing stress-tolerance to environmental factors and multiple growth- promoting traits corroborated by genomic analysis. Plant Growth Regulation. doi.org/10.1007/s10725-024-01159-5
  7.  Mathew, S., Pereira, G., Zander K.K., Thakur R., Ford LPM (2023) Environmental health injustice and culturally appropriate opportunities in remote Australia. The Journal of Climate Change and Health. doi.org/10.1016/j.joclim.2023.100281
  8. GBD 2021 causes of death collaborators. (2024). Global burden of 288 causes of death and life expectancy decomposition in 204 countries and territories and 811 subnational locations, 1990–2021: a systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 202. Lancet. doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(24)00367-2
  9. Wani, S.J., Shaikh, S.S., Tabassum, B., Thakur, R., Gulati, R., Sayyed, R.Z. (2018). Production, purification, and kinetics of chitinase of Stenotrophomonas maltophilia isolated from rhizospheric soil. Indian Journal of Experimental Biology 56(4):274-278.
  10. Thakur, R., Sharma, K.C., Gulati, A., Sud, R.K., and Gulati, A. (2017). Stress-tolerant Viridibacillus arenosi strain IHB B 7171 from tea rhizosphere as a potential broad-spectrum microbial inoculant. Indian Journal of Microbiology. doi.org/10.1007/s12088-017-0642-8