Team

Dr. Anish Andheria

President

A Carl Zeiss Conservation Awardee, Dr. Anish Andheria is a fellow of LEAD and the President of the Wildlife Conservation Trust. Upon completing his Doctorate from the Institute of Chemical Technology, Anish went on to pursue his passion with a Master’s Degree in Wildlife Biology and Conservation from the National Centre for Biological Sciences, Bangalore. He is a large carnivore biologist with field expertise in predator-prey relationships. A wildlife photographer of repute, Anish has photographed some of the remotest wildlife reserves in India. He has co-authored two books on Indian wildlife and contributed to several other national and international publications.

He is a member of the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) and both Maharashtra and Jammu & Kashmir State Boards of Wildlife. Anish is a member of the Maharashtra Coastal Zone Management Authority and the Gujarat State Lion Conservation Society. He is also part of the Organising Committee of the ‘India Climate Collaborative’ (ICC) and the Governing Council of the ‘Bombay Natural History Society’ (BNHS). He has played a pivotal role in setting up the renowned Kids for Tigers initiative, a nationwide conservation education programme that has reached out to millions of school children over 17 years.

A distinguished Alumni Awardee from the Institute of Chemical Technology, Anish is a natural communicator and is one of India’s leading motivational speakers. He has introduced thousands of people to the joys of nature and the rationale for nature conservation.

Ami Gumashta

A Paul Harris Awardee for outstanding work in the social sector, Ami Gumashta is a post graduate in finance and a Chartered Accountant by profession. She started her career in the developmental sector more than two decades ago with ADAPT (formerly the Spastics Society of India), where she was the Director – Finance and Projects and a Member of the Governing Body. She is currently senior advisor to the Hemendra Kothari Foundation and Lilavati Hindu Sanitorium. Her expertise lies in structuring systems and processes and establishing budgetary controls. Ami comes with a vast experience in the areas of project development, project management and donor management. She has successfully managed projects supported by UNICEF, Swedish International Development Agency, Canadian International Development Agency, International Labour Organisation, and BMZ, Germany, besides managing projects supported by leading Indian corporate houses and public sector organisations under the CSR umbrella.

She supports WCT by leveraging her experience in the formulation and management of budgets, and project development and management. Her unique approach of blending processes with the essential dynamism of developmental sector scenarios sets her apart.

Atul Mukne

An integral part of the WCT accounts team, Atul has over 20 years of experience helping NGOs with fund management and accounting. Prior to joining WCT, he worked with Child Rights and You(CRY) as a Senior Manager for Finance and Accounts and with the Unit Trust of India. He has a Master’s degree in commerce from Mumbai University and is deeply passionate about environmental issues.

Atul plays an instrumental role at WCT, overseeingaccounting, audits, statutory compliance, financial planning and monitoring WCT’s financial activities.

Aditya Joshi

Aditya Joshi is a trained wildlife biologist from the National Centre for Biological Sciences. As part of his master’s thesis, he has carried out one of the first studies on the connectivity of tiger populations using a combination of conservation genetics and landscape ecology, substantiating long range dispersal by tigers. He is a recipient of the Karanth J. Paul Getty Award 2010 for academic and conservation excellence. He has worked extensively on occupancy surveys of tiger corridors and tiger monitoring outside Protected Areas. Aditya is interested in creating short documentaries to increase awareness about wildlife conservation and has produced one on the vultures at Ramnagara.

Amol Pade

The amiable and approachable Amol Pade Heads the Human Resources function at WCT. Amol holds a Master’s Degree in Human Resources from Welingkar’s Institute of Management, Mumbai, and brings with him over 16 years of rich experience in Human Resource Management. He has worked across diverse industrial cultures and has honed his man management abilities at Wockhardt, Milan Pharmaceuticals, Eureka Forbes, Hamilton Group, Dr. Batra’s and the Jindal & Arya group. Amol is integral to WCT’s success and ensures employee engagement and motivational levels are at their highest, resulting in one of the most productive teams whose work translates into high on ground conservation impact.

Vivek Tumsare

Vivek holds a Master’s degree in Environmental Science from Bharati Vidyapeeth University, Pune. After working extensively on monitoring of large carnivores through camera-trapping, his passion further led him to acquire a Postgraduate Diploma in International Wildlife Conservation Practise from WildCRU, Oxford University, UK.

At WCT, Vivek currently manages the camera trapping exercise for large carnivores in the Central Indian Landscape. As part of WCT’s capacity building drives, he also trains the frontline forest staff in wildlife population estimation techniques.

Prashant Deshmukh

Prashant graduated with a Bachelors of Veterinary Science and Animal Husbandry from Krantisinh Nana Patil College at the Maharashtra Animal and Fishery Sciences University, Nagpur. He started his career as a research assistant at the Kansas Department of Wildlife and Parks, U.S.A. where he worked on estimating the prevalence of gastrointestinal parasites in white-tailed deer. As an emergency relief veterinarian at the Wildlife Trust of India (WTI), Prashant responded to human-tiger conflict situations in the Terai landscape and managed the WTI Captive Elephant Care programme. Prashant also has experience in satellite telemetry data management and hand-rearing wild mammals. He is part of the Rapid Response Team at WCT.

Team member, Wildlife Conservation Trust

Dr. Nachiket Kelkar

Nachiket is keenly interested in an interdisciplinary understanding of the ecological and socio-political processes that affect biodiversity conservation and human livelihood security in freshwater ecosystems. For his Ph.D., he conducted research on the socio-ecological conflicts in the riverine fisheries of India’s Gangetic plains, at the Ashoka Trust for Research in Ecology and the Environment (ATREE), Bangalore, and the Manipal Academy of Higher Education. Prior to that, he obtained a Master’s degree in Wildlife Biology and Conservation from the National Centre for Biological Sciences-TIFR in 2008. Nachiket has been studying Ganges river dolphins and riverine capture fisheries in Bihar and surrounding regions since 2007. Over the last two decades, his work has spanned across seagrass meadows and coral reef ecosystems, moths, terrestrial plants, dugongs, sea turtles, crocodiles, waterbirds, otters, and bats. His other areas of work include population ecology and estimation, eco-hydrology, sensory ecology, environmental history, and Bayesian statistics. He is a Member of the IUCN Cetacean Specialist Group, and was a co-convenor of the International Whaling Commission’s Task Team on South Asian river dolphins. Apart from the conservation and policy applications of research, he is keenly interested in implementing capacity building programs for forest departments, students, and researchers.

Nachiket joined WCT in 2021, and leads the newly formed Riverine Ecosystems and Livelihoods programme.

Sanjay Thakur

Sanjay has two decades of experience in wildlife conservation with a special focus on the Central Indian Landscape. After receiving a diploma in Ecological Restoration and Wildlife Management from the Ecological Society in Pune, he studied human-leopard conflict in the Northern Western Ghats, snake charmers in Madhya Pradesh for a project with the Indian Institute of Forest Management, Bhopal and the Pardhi tribe’s involvement in wildlife hunts for TRAFFIC-India. As a Senior Project Officer with WWF-India’s tiger conservation program, he headed their office in the Kanha-Pench corridor. During this time, he initiated trainings for frontline forest staff on wildlife law enforcement and designed a first-of-its-kind mobile awareness vehicle for the Satpuda-Maikal Landscape. He received the Sarpa Mitra Puraskar by the Indian Herpetological Society for his extensive work in reptile conservation and has authored seventeen scientific papers in national and international journals.

Aniket Bhatkhande

Aniket holds a Master’s degree in Economics from Mumbai University and has previously worked as a finance journalist for Moneylife. A history buff, Aniket worked on a coffee table book on the history of Ramnarian Ruia college, and also archived the history of its economics department. He is an avid cyclist and can be spotted cycling late in the night on the city’s empty roads, at times opting to sleep by the roadside. A footballer and a coach, Aniket has been a member of the Mumbai District Football Association for the past 12 years.

At WCT, Aniket heads the Conservation Behavior department that undertakes psychosocial and socio-economic studies to understand social drivers and their interactions to build invaluable insights for introducing conservation oriented community interventions.

Vikrant Jathar

After completing a Post Graduate degree in Zoology from Mumbai University, Vikrant worked as a JRF at the Foundation for Ecological Research Advocacy and Learning (FERAL) for two years, before joining WCT. At FERAL, he studied effects of restoration on biodiversity in different land use types, using butterflies as indicators. He was also part of the camera trapping teams studying, a) Effects of linear barriers on movement of wildlife across Shenkottai Gap in the Western Ghats and b) Demography and movement of elephants across Banerghatta and Hosur landscape. He is deeply interested in butterflies and their distribution.

Himanshu Joshi

An ardent veterinarian with zest for wild, Himanshu is a promising alumni of Bombay Veterinary College, with Ph.D. in Wildlife Health Management from Centre for Wildlife Forensic and Forensic (CWFH), NDVSU. During the academic course of his Masters and Ph.D. research, he investigated the causes of mortalities in gharial hatchlings, used various molecular tools and conducted field surveys to study kinships in gharials in National Chambal Sanctuary, a research which was first of its kind. As a veterinarian he has taken to resolving human-leopard conflict situations in Mumbai. Started his career as a Research Associate at CWFH where he assisted in developing techniques and processing samples for species identification and disease diagnosis using molecular markers. Himanshu was a part of team of vets that visited various protected areas in Central India for health examination, disease surveillance, translocation and treatment of free ranging wild animals. When not working he loves reading and listening to classical instrumental music, at times switching to fusion.

C Samyukta

Samyukta is a post graduate in Forensic Science from Amity University, Noida. She has over 10 years of experience in designing, organizing and delivering training programmes for diverse audiences from across government, corporate and education sectors in India. She has worked on several successful campaigns for policy change at both national and international levels which have impacted the welfare and illegal trade of wildlife, such as the anti-shark finning campaign and the CITES Appendix I listing of pangolins.

As part of the Wildlife Law Enforcement Training team at WCT, Samyukta seeks to marry her skills in forensics and training with her passion for wildlife conservation to create effective and sustainable mechanisms for wildlife crime detection and enforcement.

Hemlata Gehlot

Hemlata is a Diploma holder from Frankfinn Institute of Air Hostess Training, Mumbai and started her career working in the pharmaceutical industry in the Administration department. She has extensive experience in leading administration functions and in her professional career she has handled a range of critical administration responsibilities including front desk, travel, vendor, and facility management.

At WCT, Hema leads the front desk operations and administrative functions including facility management.

Purva Variyar

An unbridled passion for science, nature, and communication sparked Purva Variyar’s journey as a conservation writer, editor, and science communicator. She has a BSc degree in Biotechnology, and a MSc degree in Biological Photography and Imaging (Science Communication) from the University of Nottingham, UK.

Purva started her conservation career by interning with the BNHS – Conservation Education Centre, Mumbai. She has since gone on to work with the Sanctuary Nature Foundation (SNF) in the capacity of a Senior Editor and Science Communicator for SNF’s Sanctuary Asia magazine. She has been instrumental in running multiple SNF campaigns and events over the years. Purva has also worked with The Gerry Martin Project (now The Liana Trust) where she assisted with the Russell’s viper radiotelemetry research project, human-snake conflict mitigation efforts, animal curatorial tasks, and communication and outreach.

As a Senior Conservation Communicator at WCT, Purva Variyar is closely involved in building project proposals, reports, and other key communication material. She leads various communication and outreach projects and campaigns. Her core interest lies in popularising WCT’s on-ground scientific research and conservation interventions, and communicating stories from the field through popular science articles and content.

Yogi Ramachandran

Yogi is a website developer who has a deep-seated passion for wildlife conservation. Prior to joining WCT, he gained valuable experience as a website manager for various organisations in the BFSI sector.

At WCT, Yogi is responsible for a variety of tasks, including website development, regular maintenance of the site and its content, and implementing updates to ensure that the website aligns with the company’s goals and objectives.

Pooja Dewoolkar

Pooja Dewoolkar holds a Master’s degree in Economics from Mumbai School of Economics and Public Policy (Autonomous). During her course, Pooja worked as a Research Fellow with WCT. This helped her apply her classroom learnings of economic theories in understanding communities that live around national parks. She has worked with different organisations in the social sector – from working with the bamboo artisans from tribal communities of Dangs, Gujarat as an SBI Youth for India fellow, to working with tomato farmers of Nashik with a social enterprise, to working as an analyst with a CSR consultancy. This helped her identify the lacunae in incentive compatible policies that lead to sub-optimal outcomes, an area she intends to explore further through her work.

When not reading, listening to classical music or exploring the city with her taste buds, she can be found captivated in the cinematic universe, obsessing over the latest film she has watched.

Tamanna Ahmad

Tamanna holds an M. A. Development degree from Azim Premji University, Bengaluru. She first encountered the tensions between the communities living around a protected area and the forest department during her travels while working with the CSR Knowledge Centre at TISS. The experience stayed with her and was further explored during her master’s programme through an internship at WII and a fellowship with WCT where she looked at the interface between forest guards and communities. Tamanna enjoys travelling, exploring places, and understanding cultural identities.

At WCT, as a part of the Conservation Behaviour team, she uses qualitative research to get a deeper understanding of the various stakeholders involved in conservation.

Esther Chettiar

A Post Graduate in Commerce from the University of Mumbai, Esther has earned a P.G. Diploma in Event Management from NIEM, Mumbai, and also successfully completed the NGO Financial Management Certificate course from Mango (U.K.). She has a work experience of 10 years with an NGO, handling accounts and monitoring funds. In addition, she was actively involved in a children’s supplementary education and creative skills development programme.

As a part of the WCT’s Finance team, Esther is currently handling day-to-day financial transactions.

Lalit Jadhav

Lalit comes from a technical background and with a zest to continuously grow in his career. Being forced to start earning his livelihood at a very young age, he continued his education attending night college. He completed his Civil Draftsmen & AUTOCAD certificate course successfully, attending classes after working through the day.

As part of WCT’s Education team, Lalit takes care of the administration and logistical requirements of the field teams. He also oversees the day-to-day administrative needs of WCT’s Nagpur office.

Prachi Paranjpye

Prachi has a master’s degree in Social Psychology from the Department of Applied Psychology, University of Mumbai. She has worked with WCT as a research fellow during her master’s course. Prachi’s interest in forests and travelling prompted her to join Pugmarks, a travel company where she worked for five years, leading camps across India. While pursuing her bachelor’s degree, she worked as a life-skills facilitator for girls from slum areas in Pune for two years. Her interest in understanding communities and group behaviour motivated her to study social psychology in greater depth. Working with WCT as a research fellow helped evolve her perspective towards conservation further.

At WCT, she works as a Social Psychologist with the Conservation Behaviour department. She assesses various psychological, especially psychosocial, parameters for conservation.

Dr. Vijay Tate

Qualified to practice Ayurveda Medicine, Vijay also has a Post Graduate Degree in Public Health. As a Prime Minister’s Rural Development Fellow (PMRDF), he served in the Gondia district of Maharashtra for 3.5 years of the fellowship and thereafter volunteered his services pro bono to the district administration for one more year. Later, to complement his experience working in the field and to gain valuable insights about the ground level rural development scenario, he went on to complete his Masters in Development Practice from TISS, Mumbai.

Vijay heads the vocational training and skill development wing within WCT’s livelihoods vertical helping steer it towards conservation-based skill development initiatives.

Mangesh Shinde

Mangesh has a bachelor’s degree in Commerce, with a specialisation in Accounting and Finance from the Mumbai University. He possesses 3 years of experience in export documentation, audit, payment process and other compliances. His core strength lies in independently handling accounting & taxation.

As a part of the WCT’s Accounts and Finance team, Mangesh executes day-to-day financial transactions.

Girish Punjabi

Girish is a no-frills grassroots conservationist focused on applied research. In the past, he has worked in diverse roles as part of NGOs and within government setups in equally diverse landscapes ranging from the dry habitats of central India to the wet forests of the Western Ghats. He has a special interest in carnivores, and has been part of some discoveries and range extensions of small carnivores. He has Master’s degree in Wildlife Biology and Conservation from NCBS, Bengaluru.

He is part of the Dhole Working Group for the IUCN SCC Canid Specialist Group. He is also an assessor for two species (Brown palm civet and Stripe-necked mongoose) for the IUCN Red List. He truly believes in reaching out to a larger audience to create awareness about these species and the landscapes they reside in. His work has been published in international peer-reviewed scientific journals and many reputed conservation forums and magazines. He is a recipient of the Carl Zeiss Conservation Award (2015).

At WCT, Girish’s work focuses on conservation of forests along the tri-junction of Maharashtra, Goa, and Karnataka.

Tarun Nair

Tarun is a conservation biologist with an affinity for crocodilians and rivers. His work has largely focused on understanding the conservation needs of gharials (Gavialis gangeticus) in North-Central India, particularly along the Chambal, Son and Gandak Rivers. He is also interested in human-wildlife interactions, conservation philosophy, policy, and the human impact on wildlife and ecosystems.

His first chance to work with wildlife came immediately after high school. Opting out of formal education, he spent the next three years as a wildlife rescue-and-rehabilitation volunteer, and also monitored wildlife crimes like pet trade, hunting for wild meat, animals used in performances, and ritual hunting. An accident forced him back into higher secondary school which, luckily, was a wooded campus adjacent to a Reserved Forest. He completed his graduation through open-university whilst still staying involved in conservation-related work. Soon after, an M.Sc. in Wildlife Biology and Conservation helped pursue a career in conservation biology.

As part of WCT’s Conservation Research vertical, he works on the Otter & Hydrology project in the Satpura Tiger Reserve, Madhya Pradesh.

Prasad Gaidhani

Prasad’s inclination towards nature and wildlife inspired him as a teenager to volunteer with a local NGO on environmental awareness initiatives, and the same passion led him to pursue a Master’s degree in Zoology. While pursuing his studies, he continued to assist and intern on various biodiversity conservation projects, including Wildlife Institute of India’s dugong recovery programme in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, for which he conducted ecological research on dugongs and seagrasses, as well as conducted outreach, awareness and capacity building workshops for various stakeholders.

As part of WCT’s Conservation Dogs Unit, he has worked on wildlife sign surveys for our Road Ecology project, wildlife tracking in conflict situations, and tracking pangolins. He is now part of the Otter and Hydrology project in the Satpura landscape.

Dr. Vinay Pandey

Dr. Vinay Kumar Pandey holds a Bachelor’s degree in Veterinary Science & Animal Husbandry from the Indira Gandhi Agriculture University, Raipur, and a Master’s degree in Animal Science (Animal Nutrition) from the Chhattisgarh Kamdhenu Vishwavidyalaya. He started his career as an animal husbandry expert with a World Bank project called ‘Nawa Anjor’ in the Department of Gramin and Panchayat, Chhattisgarh, which dealt with livelihood and husbandry practices. Subsequently, he worked as Scientist-II at the International Traceability System, New Delhi. Thereafter, he took charge of the Animal Care Foundation, Raipur (Chhattisgarh), while also serving as a veterinary surgeon at the foundation.

As part of the team of veterinarians at WCT, he works on health examination, disease surveillance, and treatment of free-ranging wild animals across various protected areas in Central India.

Dr. Madhura Niphadkar-Bandekar

Dr. Madhura Niphadkar-Bandekar has a PhD in Ecology from the Ashoka Trust for Research in Ecology and the Environment (ATREE), a background in Geography, and professional training in satellite image mapping especially applied to nature conservation, from the Indian Institute of Remote Sensing, Dehradun. In her previous roles, she has led a team providing technological support for monitoring ecosystem restoration projects, and also worked for the National Mission for Biodiversity and Human Well-Being, collating information on research on invasive species in India, to help prepare policy documents. She believes in open access to information and Citizen Science, and with this philosophy, has worked in the founding team for development of the India Biodiversity Portal, the Karnataka Biodiversity Atlas, and the Maharashtra Gene Bank spatial portal for making biodiversity information accessible to the public. Along with six dedicated naturalists, she has co-founded the Foundation for Environmental Research and Conservation, a nonprofit based in Goa, which works in the areas of social and environmental awareness, and documentation of the wildlife of Goa. She is one of the founding members of the Goa Bird Conservation Network, and currently also serves as the Vice-President of the Gomantak Lokseva Trust, an organisation that supports destitute women. She is also a member of the Education and Skill Development Committee, Goa Chamber of Commerce and Industry, and a Fellow of LEAD-India, an organisation committed to creating leaders in environmentally sustainable, socially equitable development.

Shrutika Mulaye

What started out as an internship stint with WCT in 2019, transitioned into a full-time opportunity for Shrutika Mulaye. Social media and its scope of communication excites her. She is passionate about analysing social media trends, patterns and statistics, and using it to the best advantage to further a cause. A wildlife buff, Shrutika is putting her unique digital talents to good use by promoting the cause of wildlife conservation. She is working to revamp and establish solid social media strategies for WCT in her role as a social media expert. She has volunteered and worked with various organisations and companies in the communications arena. She has a Bachelor’s degree in Mass Media from Mumbai University. Her thirst for learning more about the digital space is insatiable, and Shrutika continues to educate herself and keep abreast of the ever-evolving digital communication scenarios.

Subhasis Dey

Subhasis has been working closely with riverine fishing communities since 1998, when he joined the Ganges river dolphin conservation project led by Prof. Sunil K. Choudhary at the T.M. Bhagalpur University, Bhagalpur, Bihar. In the last 22years, he has been actively and continuously involved in tracking the ground realities of the struggles and conflicts that river-dependent fishing communities have faced to sustain their livelihoods along the Ganga River and its tributaries across Bihar. Subhasis is keenly interested in the application of ecological and sociological research findings on the vulnerability and adaptation capacity of fisherfolk, in order to identify solutions to help their development and ensure community-level involvement in the sustainable conservation of riverine fisheries and biodiversity. A major strength of his long-term field experience has been a deep personal engagement and connection with a wide network of fishing communities across Bihar, Jharkhand, and West Bengal. Subhasis has also been collecting fish landing and market data from Bhagalpur and Kahalgaon since 2000-01, in an effort that has created one of the longest ‘civil society based’ time-series datasets on riverine fisheries in India. Subhasis is also a Member of the IUCN Cetacean Specialist Group.

Subhasis joined WCT’s newly formed Riverine Ecosystems And Livelihoods programme in 2021.

Chetan Misher

Chetan is interested in knowing about the complex interplay between changing landscapes and lesser-known species within desert and grassland ecosystems. Hailing from the Thar region, the resilience and dynamism of the landscape and its inhabitants has inspired him to explore these often-misunderstood habitats.

Initially captivated by the desert foxes, Chetan’s exploration has evolved into a comprehensive study of the evolving dynamics within dryland ecosystems. Over the past decade, his focus has been on understanding the consequences of ecological invasions on ecosystem functionality and the indigenous wildlife communities in the arid landscapes of western India. His Ph.D. research delves into the impacts of invasive plant and animal species on the native guilds of prey, predators, and scavengers in the Thar region.

His extensive work in one of Asia’s finest grasslands, Banni in Kutch, has centered on the rapid encroachment by the invasive Prosopis juliflora and its effects on soil, vegetation, and biodiversity. Chetan’s research also examines the influence of free- ranging dogs on various native wildlife guilds in the Thar region, particularly their role as scavengers and their competition with the endangered vultures.

In addition to his scientific pursuits, Chetan advocates for the dissemination of scientific knowledge in vernacular languages to enhance conservation efforts. Thus, he likes to write about conservation and wildlife stories in Hindi. Chetan’s work encompasses a broad spectrum, ranging from grasslands, carbon accounting, and meso-carnivores to vultures, drylands, and biodiversity conservation.

S Ramya Roopa

Ramya completed her M.Sc. in 2018 from the Erasmus Mundus – International Masters in Applied Ecology programme. During her studies, she developed a keen interest in population ecology, and conducted her thesis on the occupancy and habitat preferences of an endangered sand lizard species in Southern Brazil. In her work since then, she has studied hunting and illegal wildlife trade in India, with a focus on freshwater turtles and tortoises.

In her role as a Data Analyst with the Riverine Ecosystems and Livelihoods (REAL) Programme, she uses a combination of statistical and remote-sensing methods to analyse long-term data on endangered riverine fauna, hydrology, and poaching, and also creates interactive web-apps to help users visualize and interpret river monitoring trends and data. Ramya is interested in understanding the impacts of over-exploitation on turtle population decline and prospects for recovery. She leads the freshwater turtle research project in Bihar within the REAL programme.

Vedant Barje

Vedant is an Electrical Engineer by training. Before joining WCT, he worked as a STEM educator in Nashik and Ahmednagar districts where he taught tribal and municipal school children, and also helped design and setup science and STEM laboratories in their schools. Vedant got interested in environment and wildlife since an early age. He was also a part of WCT’s Kids for Tigers initiative in his school days. He has worked on several independent technology development projects for various organisations. He loves to work on electronics, microcontrollers and microprocessors and 3D modelling. He is also one of the youngest HAM radio operators in India and has lent his services at different events like the Kumbhmela.

At WCT, Vedant leads the WildTech project that focuses on developing innovative technologies that can help to solve real world conservation challenges. He has also designed and developed a customized vehicle for WCT’s Conservation Dogs Unit.

Anuj Alukathra

Anuj graduated from Bharati Vidyapeeth in Pune with a Master’s degree in wildlife conservation action. There he developed a thorough understanding of ecological concepts and conservation tactics that have enabled him to meaningfully contribute to conservation efforts.

Prior to joining WCT, he worked as an intern on a coral reef recovery project for the Wildlife Trust of India (WTI), where he obtained invaluable practical knowledge in marine conservation.

Population ecology, spatiotemporal dynamics, data analysis, and documentation are his main areas of interest. In his current position, he focuses on using statistical and geographical analysis methods to efficiently understand ecological data. He is committed to learning about the patterns and trends in wildlife populations and using that information to create strategies that further wildlife conservation efforts.

Raza Kazmi

Raza Kazmi is a conservationist, wildlife historian, storyteller, and researcher. His fields of expertise include India’s wildlife and forest administration history, conservation policy and conservation issues afflicting the insurgency-ridden east-central Indian landscape. His writings appear in national newspapers (The Hindu, The Indian Express), online media houses (The Wire, FiftyTwodotin, RoundGlass Sustain), magazines and journals (Frontline, Seminar, The India Forum, Journal of Bombay Natural History Society and Sanctuary Asia), and various edited anthologies. A recipient of the New India Foundation Fellowship for 2021, he is currently writing a book tentatively titled ‘To Whom Does the Forest Belong?: The Fate of Green in the Land of Red’.

As a Conservation Communicator at WCT, Raza weaves impactful conservation stories around WCT’s work, popularising conservation practices in both English and Hindi languages. He also strengthens the editorial department through his vast experience and helps create awareness about natural history and climate change.