Dr. Prateep Kumar Nayak is Associate Professor and Associate Director of Graduate Studies in the School of Environment, Enterprise and Development at the University of Waterloo, Canada. Nayak’s work is transdisciplinary with an active interest in combining social and ecological perspectives. His research focuses on the understanding of complex human-environment connections (or disconnections) with particular attention to change, its drivers, their influence, and possible responses. Nayak’s research expertise and interests include commons theory, social-ecological system resilience, wellbeing, justice, power dynamics, political ecology and governance. Internationally, he has participated as an expert in the FAO small-scale fisheries, the governance of tenure guidelines and as lead author in the IPBES global assessment on the sustainable use of wild species. Nayak has some 45 peer-reviewed publications and his recent books include Making Commons Dynamic (Routledge 2021). In the past, he worked as a development professional in South Asia on issues around community-based governance of land, water, and forests, focusing specifically on the interface of research, implementation, and public policy. Nayak is a past Trudeau Scholar, a Harvard Giorgio Ruffolo Fellow in Sustainability Science, a recipient of Canada’s Governor General Academic Gold Medal and University of Waterloo Outstanding Performance Awards.