Mukul Kumar is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Urban Planning and Public Policy at the University of California, Irvine. He is a geographer whose research and teaching focuses on the political ecology of energy transitions by analyzing the intersections of urbanization, development, land politics, and climate justice.

Dr. Kumar’s research projects examine how the transition from fossil fuels to renewable energy can address past harms and lead to just and equitable futures. His current book project tracks the ways in which frontline communities are challenging extractive fossil fuel industries and articulating new forms of climate justice along the coast of south India.  

Kumar received his Ph.D. from the University of California, Berkeley and his MPhil from the University of Cambridge. His research has been supported by the Social Science Research Council and UC Humanities Research Institute. Prior to joining UC Irvine, Kumar was a UC President’s Postdoctoral Fellow.