Samidha Mahesh Pusalkar is the youngest doctoral candidate at Politecnico di Milano, Italy- specialising in Preservation of Architectural Heritage. Her PhD research explores dialogues between core communities and heritage professionals during conservation decision-making of living religious heritage. Samidha's research interests are generally concerned with studying dynamics of intangible heritage values with built heritage.
She holds a BA in History from University of Pune, India and a master's in Architecture and Historic Environments from University College London. With her other educational qualifications in Indology and Heritage conservation, she has experience in working for organisations such as Indian National Trust for Art and Cultural Heritage (INTACH) in India and English Heritage in England. She has worked on various sustainable conservation frameworks, heritage management plans and awareness initiatives for a broad range of properties, including ancient, medieval and post-medieval heritage landscapes and sites.