PROJECT TEAM | Mysite

I am a visiting fellow to the Dept. of Zoology at the University of Oxford, and a Postdoctoral Researcher at the Wildlife Institute of India (WII). I study the human-animal interfaces, carved by local cultures, built environments, and socio-economic pressure that are being affected by an unprecedented increase in poorly disposed solid-waste within fast-growing human-dominated tropical landscapes. In cities like Delhi, waste and ritually offered food that acts as subsidies for domestic and free-ranging animals mediate new interactions with humans. Such dynamics raise two developmental questions, for which I model spatio-temporal variations in my study animals distribution and abundance to explore:

(i) How specifically does each animal species thrive on a variety of anthropogenic resources?

(ii) Under what conditions are these human-waste-animal interactions a concern for the human, animal, and environmental health?

A wildlife enthusiast since childhood, Urvi is currently working as the Project Biologist with Wildlife Institute of India. Having a background in Zoology from Delhi University and a Masters in Biodiversity, Conservation and Management from Oxford as a Chevening Scholar, she hopes to bridge the gaps between disciplines for wildlife conservation. She is interested in conservation, evolutionary ecology, human-animal interactions and science communication.

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Navneet Kumar

Navneet Kumar is a management professional who has been a part of the black kite-project since January 2019. A graduate from the Indian Institute of Management (IIM) Shillong, he has been familiar with the project as a student in its initial days and currently contributes to supporting daily project operations and coordination with relevant collaborating organizations. When he finds time from project activities and other novel initiatives, he likes to use his time enjoying sports and movies.

Prof. Yadvendradev Jhala

Yadvendradev Jhala is a well-known carnivore biologist, currently associated with the Wildlife Institute of India as a Senior Professor (Scientist ‘G’), where he joined in 1993. He has been passionate about animals and the wilderness since his childhood. And his current interest domain covers population ecology, nutritional ecology, quantitative ecology, behavioral ecology, conservation biology, and conservation genetics. He leads multiple research programs on the predator-prey dynamics within the Indian protected area network, e.g. the tiger and its prey, and Asiatic Lions. He is a well-known expert on using radio and satellite telemetry that he started while studying Indian wolves, at the beginning of his career. Dr. Jhala continues to be a research associate at the Smithsonian Institution and a member of the IUCN SSC Specialist Group for Wolves and Canids. He is also leading the Great Indian Bustard conservation breeding program and is the nodal officer of the WII-National Tiger Conservation Authority's Tiger Cell, responsible for the countrywide estimation and monitoring of the tiger and its prey.

Prof. Qamar Qureshi

Prof. Qureshi leads the famed All India Tiger Monitoring Project, together with Prof. Y V Jhala, since 2006. With an expertise in landscape ecological methods, he has worked on habitat use patterns using remote sensing and GIS.

He is currently involved with projects dealing with biodiversity assessment at the landscape and species levels . He leads the Gangetic Dolphin Conservation project being conducted throughout the course of rivers Ganges and Brahmaputra in India. He also works on human-animal conflict with rhesus macaques, blue bulls, and wild pigs as model species

Dr. Dhananjai Mohan, IFS

Dr. Dhananjai Mohan has been involved in wildlife management, training, and research for more than two decades. As a member of the 1988 batch of the Indian Forest Service, he has managed protected areas in the Uttarakhand Himalaya and Uttar Pradesh terai. He has also written management plans for many protected areas of the present-day Uttarakhand state. Dr. Mohan has been a passionate birdwatcher and naturalist for nearly four decades and has spanned the length and breadth of the country in pursuit of it. Of late, he has been focussing on Himalayan birds, particularly on the distributional aspects and bird–habitat interactions. He is a fellow of Leadership for Environment and Development (LEAD), a program initiated by the Rockefeller foundation. He has been a recipient of Dr. Salim Ali fellowship of Ministry of Environment and Forests, Govt. of India in 2005. Currently, he is serving as Director of Wildlife Institute of India

Dr. Fabrizio Sergio

Rapt in the areas of Raptor Biology, Dr. Fabrizio Sergio is an Associate professor at the Doñana Biological Station – CSIC, Spain. Some of the species of his interest are Tawny Owl, Peregrine Falcon, Black Kite, Red Kite, Common Buzzard, Golden Eagle, etc.

His research focus falls in the myriad questions on biodiversity conservation, habitat selection, demography, intraguild predation, interspecific interactions, territory quality etc. He has been awarded the coveted Watson Raptor Prize twice .

Prof. Andrew Gosler

Andy Gosler enquires the questions of Ornithology and Ethno- Ornithology falling in the expansive context of Nature Conservation. He holds a joint position between the Edward Grey Institute of Field Ornithology and Institute of Human Sciences (School of Anthropology and Museum Ethnography) at the University Of Oxford. His long-term dedicated work on Wytham Great Tit population has aided in the study of finely tuned adaptations of the bird to understand the woodland bird ecology, environmental monitoring, and conservation. Also, he quests to bring about sustainable conservation strategies so as to aid in the needs of both humans and wildlife, embracing in his efforts to understand Ethno-ornithology. His work focuses on the unique significance of birds in the engagement between humans and nature. Andy joined the Black Kite Project in the capacity of Nishant Kumar’s D. Phil project supervisor at Oxford.

Field Assistants

Laxmi Narayan

Popularly known as Vishnu hailing from Chitrakoot, he has been on board with the project since day one. He loves to chat with people and understand the social dynamics whenever he gets a chance.

Prince Kumar

Prince Kumar Singh Rajput AKA PKSR joined the project in 2016. He enjoys various physical activities and is a curious tech savvy. Apart from field activities his favorite work is camera trap image analysis.

Sweet, chirpy little girl joined us in 2015 as a household helper but very soon started to assist people in field and with data curation. A culinary expert, she continued with us till 2019 .

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Zehen is an enthusiastic, curious girl. She engages from managing the base, field work to data-curation. She is a quick learner with interest in gadgets.

The latest member on board, Abhinandan is a frolic yet shy boy. A fantastic dancer, he can't control but shake a leg on beats. He climbs trees and entertains everyone around!