Asian Nature Conservation Foundation

Department Member, Eco-Health

Project Officer- PREDICT (India)

University of Leeds, UK

Thesis Title: Gastrointestinal Parasite Infection Rates in Black and White Rhinoceros: A Comparative Study Among Rhino Sanctuaries in Central Kenya.

About

I've been quite the "misfit" right through my scholastic and academic life. However, I'm still surviving in research surprisingly well, if I do say so myself...! :)

I’m currently working on a collaborative project on Emerging Infectious Diseases from Wildlife, with the Asian Nature Conservation Foundation (ANCF), Centre for Ecological Sciences (CES), Indian Institute of Science (IISc), Bangalore and EcoHealth Alliance, New York. It's a global initiative on zoonotic diseases and is called PREDICT. ANCF and CES jointly function as the country coordinating unit. PREDICT mainly aims to monitor for and increase the local capacity and knowledge in zoonotic diseases and identify the emergence of new infectious diseases in high-risk wildlife species that could potentially be a major threat to public health. PREDICT aims to sample in regions of potential disease risk and spread or global “hot-spots” where important wildlife host species have significant interaction with domestic animal and human populations.  PREDICT will be focusing on detecting disease-causing organisms in wildlife before they lead to human infection or death.

The driving force to pursue specialised knowledge in bio conservation, has been my ardent interest in species conservation and management. What started in me as a passion has now led to global appreciation and understanding of the issue and I now want to cultivate a career that brings fulfillment of intellect and passion along with contributing to a larger development. Although my interests are extremely varied, from interconnected elements of natural sciences, art, culture and politics, my core research interests primarily revolve around biology, ecology and conservation. I only hope to be able to use elements of art, culture, religion and politics to understand the current paradigmatic status of ecology across societies, where it stands at national and international levels and be able to target conservation from a wider, global perspective.

On a long term, I hope to specialize in disease and molecular ecology, and study them in big cat and other large mammal and endangered populations.

Related areas of interest include inbreeding depression and causes of reduced fitness among large fields, understanding the genetic consequences and mechanisms of disease-induced extinction in relationship to reserve design and characteristics. Exploring and understanding these circumstances within reserve networks among large mammals and endangered species may hint at conservation implications thereof. Studying effects of captive breeding programmes and negative survival rates of genetically incompetent mammals in the wild as a repercussion of smaller, species-rich reserve networks and possible cross-infection among the mammals and the genetic suppression resulting from stress as a consequence of their disrupted social structure. Examining effects of anthropogenic environmental pressures on wildlife health and manifestations of stress related non-pathological hypercortisolemia on immunity, reproduction and neurobiology in wild and captive populations. Use of modern molecular techniques to estimate and understand genetic fitness among post bottleneck, endangered mammal populations in the wild and also gain a better understanding of mating systems and behaviour through molecular ecology.

I hope to eventually contribute to applied ecology and conservation and integration of (sound) scientific research in policy-making and implementation for species conservation and maintenance of wildlife and ecosystem health at large.

I am also interested in exploring areas where art meets ecology and policy. The use of environmental, ecological and other forms of art as tools for triggering socio-cultural ecological sensitivity and conservation consciousness. However, I would have to emphasise once again that this would not be my core focus or research interest. Art and photography have primarily been somewhat serious "hobbies" though being surrounded by artists and theatre folk whose fundamentals for "socio-sculpturing" have been their art forms, I've recently been able to enhance my understanding of its effectiveness in raising ecological consciousness and wish to be able to explore, utilise and draw as much as possible from it.     

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