Sameer Deshkar is serving as Assistant Professor at the Department of Architecture and Planning of Visvesvaraya National Institute of Technology (VNIT), Nagpur where he is also leading the IRDR International Center of Excellence in Resilient Communities & Settlements as Executive Director. His recent research projects have been focusing on mainstreaming community resilience into development planning, applying socio-ecological perspectives, and developing a framework for collective resilience of urban & rural regions in India. He has supervised over 32 postgraduate students and has his credit papers published in reputed peer-reviewed journals and book chapters mainly focusing on disaster risk resilience.