Dr. Umapathy is a Principal Scientist and Group Leader in the laboratory for the Conservation of Endangered Species (LaCONES), CCMB, Hyderabad. He has extensively studied the loss of biodiversity specially in the human-dominated landscape in the Western Ghats of India using lion tailed macaque as a model species. His talk will comprise his 25 years of consistent work on this issue.

Dr. Hema Somnathan born and brought up in Chennai, where she completed BSc from the University of Madras. She obtained an MS in Ecology from School of Ecology, Pondicherry University. Subsequently, she pursued PhD from the University of Bombay working on plant-pollinator interactions. From 2006-2009, She was a Wenner-Gren postdoctoral fellow at Lund University, Sweden. During this period, She worked on the sensory ecology of nocturnal and diurnal bees. She has been a faculty in the School of Biology at IISER Thiruvananthapuram since August 2009. Presently, she has been actively engaged in understanding mutualistic interactions and organization of social groups working with bees, bats and spiders.

Dr. Dey is professional forestry and environmental Expert with specialization in wildlife biology, conservation technology, safari park and protected area management. He has special expertise on social forestry, wildlife ecology, in-situ & ex-situ conservation, tropical and mangrove ecology. He has authored several popular books on Useful Plants of Bangladesh, Wildlife Management in Bangladesh, Modern Nursery and Plantation Techniques, Deer Population in Bangladesh and Wildlife Crime Control Enforcement in Bangladesh etc.

Dr. Vinita Gowda, after obtaining M.Sc. in Applied Botany from Mangalore University, joined Department of Biological Sciences, George Washington University, USA for his doctoral research and obtained Ph.D. in Systematics, Evolution, and Ecology. Thereafter, she moved to Department of Botany, National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institute, Washington DC, USA in 2010-2012 and later, the Herbarium, Singapore Botanic Gardens, Singapore in 2012-2013 for her post-Doctoral study. She is working as a faculty in the Department of Biological Sciences at IISER Bhopal, where she has been actively engaged in understanding the evolution of floral and vegetative traits in plants using molecular, ecological and behavioral tools.

Dr. Acharya is a Wildlife Researcher by training and a conservationist by profession. He is presently heading Species and Habitat Conservation Division (SHCD), Royal Society for Protection of Nature (RSPN), Bhutan and mainly focuses on studying the avian ecology, freshwater ecosystems, livelihoods and their interlinkages in the Himalayan region. Currently, his work is largely focused on ecology, biology and conservation of the critically endangered White-bellied Heron (Ardea insignis) in Bhutan and his talk summarizes his study on white bellied Heron in Bhutan with reference to rivers and community participation.

Damber is studying how red pandas interact in human-dominated landscapes in his way of earning Doctor of Philosophy in Wildlife Science Unit/School of Agriculture and Food Sciences at the University of Queensland. He joined Red Panda Network in 2011, and has trained more than 125 local people as Citizen Scientists (RPN “Forest Guardians”), promoted red panda-based ecotourism in Nepal (the only place where you can see red pandas within 3-4 tracking days in the wild), and worked tirelessly to expand a community-based red panda conservation program in Nepal. He is passionate to wildlife ecology and conservation biology.

Ms. Kalpana Ghimire has obtained her Master’s degree in Environmental Science with specialization in Wildlife Ecology and Conservation in 2019 from Central Department of Environmental Science, Tribhuvan University, Kathmandu, Nepal. She has keen interest in conservation approaches and also specialized in Restoration Ecology. Being an intern in Department of Environment (EIA monitoring and auditing section) under Government of Nepal, she has gained substantial expertise in Water Pollution Assessment, Environment Impact Assessment, Conservation Status of Small Mammals, Restoration Approaches and Wildlife Behaviour. Her research interests are the inclusion of biodiversity conservation, natural resource management, restoration practices and impacts of climate change on numerous sectors. Presently, she is working as Supervisor in Contentio Lab Private Limited, Kathmandu, Nepal.