Nilanjana Biswas lived and worked as a consultant and independent researcher in Bengaluru, India, prior to joining the Community and Livelihoods team in RIEL as a PhD scholar. She has two decades of work experience on issues related to small-scale fisheries, and more than three decades on gender-related issues. Associated with the International Collective in Support of Fishworkers (ICSF) and with several international institutions, including the FAO and UN Women, Nilanjana's research areas have included the implementation of the voluntary guidelines on small-scale fisheries (the SSF Guidelines), aquaculture and Blue Economy development, with a focus on understanding the gender implications and the impacts of development projects on the lives and livelihoods of women in marine and coastal economies.