Kuhika Gupta

Kuhika (she/her) is the Associate Director for Energy and Security policy at the Institute for Public Policy Research and Analysis at the University of Oklahoma. Her research focuses on energy, climate, and security, with a specific emphasis on public perceptions regarding nuclear energy and climate change. In other research, Kuhika studies how narratives about nuclear energy are received and dispersed on social media platforms. She is also passionate about studying how different social, political, cultural, and institutional features influence policymaking. Key aspects of this comparative policy research have included work on how nuclear facility siting outcomes have been impacted by differing social and political structures globally. Her research has appeared in a number of academic journals, including Energy Policy, Policy Studies Journal, Review of Policy Research, and the Journal of Comparative Policy Analysis.

Born and raised in India, Kuhika received a BA in Political Science from Delhi University. She went on to receive an MA in International Studies from Warwick University, where she specialized in international security. She earned her PhD in Political Science from the University of Oklahoma, where she focused on energy and security policy, with an emphasis on how advocacy coalitions operate within institutional and political opportunity structures to achieve policy goals. In her current research, she applies these theoretical lenses to better understand coalition formation, strategies, and policy outcomes in energy, climate, and security domains. Kuhika has also been studying ways in which technology and engineering interact with society, and mechanisms to design socially sustainable solutions to wicked problems such as climate change and nuclear facility siting.

Kuhika is married and is mom to a rambunctious toddler girl. In her down time, when she is not chasing after her daughter, Kuhika likes to cook, listen to music, podcasts, audiobooks, and travel to new places.