Dr. D’Souza is the Director of the WOTR Center for Resilience Studies (W-CReS). She was also the Director of WOTR from 2006 to March 2019. A trained doctor and Takemi Fellow from the Harvard School of Public Health, she worked with rural communities in Peru before joining WOTR in 1995.
In 2009, as Managing Director, Dr. D’Souza initiated the Climate Change Adaptation in Semi-arid Regions of three Indian states. The project was supported by Swiss Development Cooperation and the National Bank for Rural Development and aims to develop methods, procedures and tools for adapting to climate change in semi-arid regions.
In 2007, she founded W-CReS, WOTR’s research facility to promote trans-disciplinary research in the interests of policy planning, implementation and the well-being of the rural population.