Lakshmin is a Fijian PhD scholar with roots in New Zealand. Her research project titled, Environmental Migration, Disaster Displacement and Planned Relocation Governance in the Pacific, examines the geographical patterns of policy convergence and divergence in managing human mobility caused by environmental stressors across the region. It focuses on the role of policy actors in shaping and transferring policies and/or ideas to manage population movements induced by climate change, disasters and environmental degradation.

Prior to joining ANU’s School of Regulation and Global Governance, Lakshmin was pursuing her doctoral studies at Monash University. During this time, she interned with the Fiji Mission in Geneva and the United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights Regional Office for the Pacific in Fiji, working on climate displacement and human rights. She also worked as a Teaching Associate and Research Officer at Monash University, focusing on development, climate change and sustainable buildings. More recently, she was a Research Consultant on an Australian Red Cross project for the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies that focused on migration and displacement.