Ecology, conservation, and restoration of tropical rainforest ecosystems are my primary areas of research. I have a strong interest in applied aspects, trying to translate biological understanding to on-ground conservation action. Over the last decade, I have been working on conservation projects focusing on the rainforests and their wildlife in the southern Western Ghats. Currently, along with Shankar Raman and Ananda Kumar, I have been involved in a long-term conservation programme aimed at restoring degraded rainforests, reducing conflict between people and elephants, and conservation education based in Valparai in the Anamalai hills.

I have a Bachelor of Science degree in Zoology from Stella Maris College, Chennai (1989). As direct and inspiring contact with nature was difficult in the university zoology classrooms, I used local opportunities for fieldwork and conservation by participating in “turtle walks”, a conservation project for the endangered Olive Ridley sea turtles (Lepidochelys olivacea), and by making visits to the Guindy National Park in Chennai. I obtained my Master’s degree in Ecology from the Sálim Ali School of Ecology and Environmental Sciences at Pondicherry University in1994. During this time, I got a wonderful opportunity of working in the tropical rainforests of the Western Ghats through research on the Malabar Grey Hornbill (Ocyceros griseus), a species endemic to the Western Ghats. This study on hornbills in Karian Shola National Park within the Indira Gandhi Wildlife Sanctuary in Tamil Nadu, created and maintains my interest in these birds and their rainforests. In 1994, I joined the Wildlife Institute of India, Dehradun, for further studies on a project that aimed to look at the effect of rainforest fragmentation on small mammals (rodents and shrews) and small carnivores. This led to my doctoral research on an elusive, nocturnal, and enigmatic small carnivore endemic to the Western Ghats, the brown palm civet (Paradoxurus jerdoni).