Rashmi is a cultural anthropologist specialising in tribal studies and traditional ecological knowledge systems. She holds a PhD in Anthropology from Pondicherry University and has extensively researched on indigenous communities in Odisha, India. Her work examines sustainable livelihoods, environmental governance, and the role of traditional knowledge in resource management. Dr Rout has published in peer-reviewed journals and presented at national seminars, combining rigorous ethnographic fieldwork with interdisciplinary expertise to inform both academic scholarship and practical policy development. She is studying the metrological aspects of valuation in forest commodities with a focus on exchange relations of small forest produce such as tendu and honey in Odisha.