From growing up and attending school in the elitist town of Dehra Dun in Noth India to shuttling between the Big Apple and London pursuing higher education and personal aspirations has been an eventful few years of my life.
After graduating from Welham Girls School, I moved onto pursue a degree in Zoology from MCM College, Punjab University, Chandigarh. I completed my master's degree in Wildlife Science at the Wildlife Institute of India, Dehra Dun. For my masters dissertation I examined the relationship between nutritional quality of grasslands and habitat use patterns of four wild ungulates (the Indian rhino, the wild buffalo, the swamp deer and the hog deer) at Kaziranga National Park, India.
My Ph.D. research will focus on investigating the relationships between endangered large herbivore distributions in the context of anthropogenic and ecological pressures in fragmented ecosystems.My thesis will largely address conservation of mega-herbivores in an overcrowded world and resolving issues of spatial scale, habitat mosaics, fragmented corridors and production landscapes for continued survival of endangered species.
I plan to pursue a career in conservation biology, concentrating on seeking practical solutions to human-animal conflict.I am particularly keen to address issues using conservation education and policy to find practical and efficient solutions to conservation challenges.
My interests are broadly centered around large mammal conservation, land- resources management, and conservation education. I am keen to apply my knowledge to work on issues in human land use patterns and their impact on wildlife.
In my spare time, I enjoy writing poetry and short stories.I also actively pursue rock climbing and hiking and outdoor activities. I enjoy reading and collecting limited edition books.
Photo credit Kaustav Bhattacharya