Swati Hegde is the Manager of Agricultural Methane at WRI within the Food, Land, and Water Program. At WRI, her work encompasses quantitative research and stakeholder engagement, with a portfolio spanning methane reduction from livestock manure, enteric fermentation, and rice systems.

Since joining WRI in 2023, she has been the lead author of Opportunities for Methane Mitigation in Agriculture, a comprehensive report outlining over 25 pathways for livestock and rice methane mitigation. She co-authored the working paper on methane mitigation from manure management in the United States, evaluating promising solutions. She leads the Climate and Clean Air Coalition–funded crop residue improvement project in Ethiopia and Nepal, a collaboration between WRI and the International Livestock Research Institute to pilot upgrading of crop residues into high-quality livestock feed to improve productivity and reduce emissions.

Before joining WRI, Swati was Senior Research Coordinator for the Water Center, Lecturer in the Master of Environmental Studies Program, and Editor of the Journal of Gender and Water—all at the University of Pennsylvania. She also worked as an Assistant Professor of Biotechnology at BVB College of Engineering and Technology in India.

Swati holds a PhD in Sustainability from the Rochester Institute of Technology, where her research evaluated technologies for landfill diversion of food waste using laboratory studies, life cycle assessment, and stakeholder engagement in collaboration with the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation. She holds bachelor’s and master’s degrees in Biochemical Engineering from Indian universities.

Swati lives in Boston, MA, and enjoys gardening, nature walks, and engaging with youth on sustainability and climate issues.