Dr Charishma Ratnam is a Human Geographer and Research Fellow at the Monash Migration and Inclusion Centre (MMIC) at the School of Social Sciences, Monash University. Her research spans a number of areas, primarily focusing on refugee experiences, migrant (re)settlement, inclusion, and home-making practices. Charishma is particularly interested in developing novel research approaches including visual, ethnographic, and walking methods with participants to better understand their experiences of/in/with place(s).

Charishma is currently working on multiple research projects: she is involved in Monash University's Network for Excellence on Regional Liveable Diversity; she is working with Sri Lankan migrants to better understand how they use and encounter public spaces in Sydney and Melbourne, and; Charishma is working on a project with colleagues at MMIC and the Victorian Government to co-design safe and inclusive public spaces for women and migrants in three Local Government Areas. She worked on a recently completed project with MMIC colleagues for the Victorian Government that examined how organisations can strengthen their digital engagement with migrant communities. She has published research in Urban Geography, Mobilities, Emotion, Space and Society, and Geography Compass. She also co-edited a collection on Sri Lankan Tamils in Australia (2020).

Charishma is currently the Honorary Membership Secretary of the Institute of Australian Geographers and a member of the New and Emerging Communities Advisory Committee for the Federation of Ethnic Communities' Councils of Australia. In 2021, Charishma commenced an appointment as Associate Editor and Book Review Editor for the Journal of Sociology.