Ruyel during his presentation
Md. Ruyel Miah, a member of TBTI Bangladesh, successfully defended his PhD dissertation in Sustainability Management on July 31st 2025 at the University of Waterloo, Canada. He is a former Master’s student at Memorial University, where he was working under the supervision of TBTI Director Dr. Ratana Chuenpagdee. Ruyel’s PhD dissertation focuses on the transboundary governance of the Sundarbans mangrove forest, shared between Bangladesh and India. His study explored how policies, local communities, and ecological realities intersect in one of the world’s most complex shared social-ecological ecosystems. Through interviews, policy analysis, and fieldwork, he examined the challenges and opportunities of collaborative governance across borders, where geopolitics, conservation, and livelihoods collide.
The committee members and colleagues of Ruyel after the defence.
Ruyel’s doctoral study looked at the role of governance in facilitating the vulnerability to viability transitions for small-scale fisheries in the Sundarbans mangrove forest. As part of the study, he conducted a global review on the common sources of vulnerabilities and the strategies taken at different levels and scales to address them.
His findings suggest how short-term and reactive responses without addressing the root causes further expose small-scale fisheries to multi-dimensional vulnerabilities. He found that vulnerabilities of small-scale fisheries and the pathways to address them get further complicated in the transboundary fisheries system, where both fish and fishers move across borders.
Through case studies, Ruyel identified whether and how the governing system can help facilitate a transition from vulnerability to viability for small-scale fisheries. Specifically, using the lens of governability, Ruyel examined whether the current governance approach(s) have the capacity and quality to address the vulnerabilities of small-scale fisheries and help facilitate the transition toward viability. He found that the governance of the transboundary Sundarbans mangrove forest fisheries system is confronted with a number of governability challenges. Overall, tis study makes a significant contribution to understanding the governance of small-scale fisheries from the lens of wicked problems and governability.
The photo shows the convergence of five rivers at the border of Bangladesh and India in the Sundarbans mangrove forest, 2024 © Ruyel Miah
Small-scale fisherwoman fishing at the edge of the Indian Sundarbans, 2024 © R. Miah
Ruyel’s doctoral work was supervised by Dr. Prateep Kumar Nayak, director of the V2V Global Partnership network. The examination committee of his PhD defense included Drs. Micaela Trimble, Ratana Chuenpagdee, Simron Singh, and Jeremy Pittman. Ruyel is looking forward to the next opportunity and is eager to build on the foundation through postdoctoral opportunities that bridge research and real-world impact. He is interested to working in environmental governance and policy, transboundary or community-led resource management, interdisciplinary collaborations, human and planetary health, climate change and local adaptations, and aquatic food systems.
The aquaculture farm outside of the Bangladesh Sundarbans mangrove forest, 2024 © Ruyel Miah
The fencing of the Indian Sundarbans Mangrove forest, 2024 © Ruyel Miah