Mook Bangalore

Assistant Professor of Public Policy

2026–27 Rock Ethics Institute Faculty Fellow

Biography

Mook Bangalore is an assistant professor in the School of Public Policy at Penn State. His research focuses on the relationship between environment and development and explores how households across the Global South are affected by environmental change. Previously, he was a postdoctoral researcher at UC-Santa Barbara and Princeton University. He received his M.Sc. and Ph.D. from the London School of Economics and Political Science and has a B.S. from Rutgers University. He also loves watching sports and cooking, sometimes at the same time.

Project Title: Dam Releases and Environmental Justice in Nigeria: Understanding Community Perspectives

Abstract: Floods are one of Nigeria’s most pressing environmental challenges. One overlooked aspect of floods are releases of water from dams. Dam releases can have serious consequences for nearby populations, who may be marginalized and given inadequate warnings. This project plans to examine environmental justice implications of dam releases on nearby communities through data analysis of a survey of communities living nearby three dams in Nigeria conducted in 2026. This research may uncover ethical and environmental justice implications of dam releases and provide policy-relevant guidance on equitable climate-resilient infrastructure management in a Global South context.