Home Institution India: University of Kerala

Amina Reem Vazhuthina Patta

Ms. Amina Reem Vazhuthina Patta is a PhD candidate in the Department of Political Science, University of Kerala. Her doctoral research focuses on the evolving contours of India-Taiwan relations in the context of the new geopolitics of the Indo-Pacific, employing insights from Regional Security Complex Theory. She was a Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA), Taiwan Fellow in 2025 at National Chengchi University.

Amina holds a bachelor’s degree in economics from Mar Ivanios College, Thiruvananthapuram. Her keen interest in geopolitics and global politics motivated her to pursue a master’s degree in international relations and politics from Central University of Kerala, where she graduated as university topper. She has qualified for the UGC-NET and JRF in Political Science, the BHEL-FAEA Scholarship, and is as a student volunteer for the G20 University Connect program.

Amina’s research has been published in international Scopus-indexed journals such as Journal of Asian Security and International Affairs and China Report, as well as in peer-reviewed journals such as East Asian Journal of Multidisciplinary Research. She has co-edited a book on India’s foreign policy, contributed chapters to academic books related to her field of study, and presented her research at national and international conferences. She has also written analytical articles for newspapers including Taipei Times.

As a Fulbright-Nehru Doctoral Research Fellow, Amina is examining the transition from the US-China-Taiwan triangle to a U.S.-China-India-Taiwan quadrilateral construct in the Indo-Pacific regional security complex. In her free time, Amina enjoys reading fiction and listening to music.

Salom Gnana Thanga Vincent

Dr. Salom Gnana Thanga Vincent (Association of Commonwealth Universities Blue Charter Fellow: 2019-2020) is a Professor at the Department of Environmental Sciences, University of Kerala, Kerala, India. She is a graduate in agriculture, a postgraduate, and a doctorate in environmental sciences from Tamil Nadu Agricultural University, Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu, India. Prof. Vincent worked as Head of the Department of Environmental Science for two terms and as the Director of the School of Earth System Sciences, University of Kerala. She is a member of the Scientific Strategic Board and adjunct faculty of the Centre of Excellence in Microbiome (CoEM), Government of Kerala, India. She is a member of the editorial board of Wetlands Ecology and Management and associate editor for Estuarine, Coastal and Shelf Science. Her broad research area is the benthic ecology of coastal ecosystems. Her work specifically focuses on the structural and functional diversity of microbes in the coastal environment of Kerala and relates the benthic diversity to environmental and anthropogenic impacts. At present, her research is also focused on the evaluation of environmental factors that influence the prevalence of antimicrobial resistance and the distribution of microplastics.

During her project for the Fulbright Nehru Academic and Professional Excellence Fellowship, Prof. Vincent aims to explore the prevalence of antimicrobial resistance genes (ARGs) and antibiotic-resistant bacteria (ARB) in microplastics of sewage. The work will contribute to the understanding of how microplastics act as a ‘Trojan horse’ in the environmental spread of ARB and ARGs.

Anu Unny

Dr. Anu Unny is an Assistant Professor at the Department of Political Science, University of Kerala. She is also the Hon. Director of UGC-Nehru Studies Centre, University of Kerala. Before joining the University of Kerala, she worked as an Assistant Professor at the University of Delhi. She has served as a Member of the Board of Studies in Kerala and Kannur Universities.

Dr. Unny completed her M.A., M.Phil., and Ph.D. from the School of International Studies (SIS), Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU), Delhi. Along with her teaching responsibilities, she acts as a research guide for the Ph.D. Programme in Political Science and International Relations at the University of Kerala. She is a recipient of the International Studies Association (ISA) grant to visit the US in 2017. She has many research papers to her credit in national and international journals. She has visited many countries, including the US, to present her research outcomes in conferences. She is an active participant in media discussions on international issues and a resource person for UGC Orientation and Refresher Programmes.

During her Fulbright-Nehru Fellowship, Dr. Unny will teach a course on the ‘Politics of Climate Change’ for students at the University of Washington. She will also engage in research at the University of Washington to understand the nuances of US domestic politics on climate change and to explore the challenges and possibilities in strengthening India-US climate cooperation. Apart from climate politics, Dr. Unny’s research interests lie in gender, human rights and Indian politics.