Rini Astuti has conducted research on contemporary environmental challenges facing Southeast Asia. Her research focuses on resource governance in Indonesia, including on climate change mitigation and adaptation policies. Rini’s current research is on haze-producing biomass fires and an emerging framework for peatland and forest governance in Indonesia.

Rini’s research draws from a political ecology perspective that problematized the implications of neoliberal environmental governance for different actors across multiple scales in Indonesia, including local and indigenous communities.

Rini has published articles relating to forest governance, climate change mitigation and land politics in numerous journals. She has also published opinion editorials and commentaries on broader environmental issues through numerous publication outlets.