Team profile


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Dr. J. A. Johnson
Principal Investigator
Scientist - F
Phone: 0135-2646285
Mobile: +91 9410992211

E-mail: jaj [at] wii [dot] gov [dot] in

Read more - https://wii.gov.in/ja_johnson

 

Dr. Nehru Prabakaran
Co-Investigator
Scientist - D
Phone: +91-135-2646337
Email: nehrup [at] wii [dot] gov [dot] in

 

Chinmaya Ghanekar 
Co-Investigator
Scientist - C
Email: chinmaya[at] wii [dot] gov [dot] in

Project Scientist
 

Oishinee Chakraborty 

My first encounter with the sea was at Marina beach, Chennai when I was 11 years old. Since the first time I saw that thin strip of water in the distance, I knew I had found my calling. Since then, I have been working towards being a Marine Biologist. After finishing my Bachelors from Madras Christian College, Chennai, I pursued my Masters in Marine Biology from the Andaman and Nicobar campus of Pondicherry University. With this, I began a 7 and half year long journey in the Islands where I continued my studies to earn a PhD degree from the Andaman and Nicobar Regional Centre, Zoological Survey of India affiliated with Pondicherry University. My studies focused on the lesser known class of organisms known as the Hydrozoa. These studies gave me the opportunity to dive at some of the best remote locations of the Islands spanning from the West Island (North Andaman) to Great Nicobar Island. I have a PADI Advanced Open water diving license and have logged over 120 dives. I have extensive field experience in a variety of habitats including intertidal, reef, seagrass and mangrove ecosystems.

My experience in the Islands taught me that the awareness of marine species and their importance is still lacking, though extensive efforts are underway. The current global scenario of climate change and shrinking habitats of species calls for more manpower in conservation and research. Moreover, the idea of “out of sight, out of mind” for the loss of marine life is a fact. My current research goals are; to monitor and identify potentially vulnerable habitats, estimate populations of target species, assess potential threats to their health and environment, to create awareness about the targeted species and to contribute towards their management plan. All of which the CAMPA Dugong team is already actively pursuing. Projects such as CAMPA Dugong that aim to create awareness through community engagement are required to stress the severity of habitat loss and the importance of saving these vulnerable habitats by protecting an umbrella species such as the ‘sea cow’. Now, as a Project Scientist - I, I am confident that with such an enthusiastic and amazing team, we would be able to continue to contribute towards protecting the marine environment.

 
Project Fellow
 
Swapnali Gole   

I have been working as a Project Fellow in the CAMPA_Dugong project in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands since 2016. For my doctoral programme, I am studying the seagrass habitats in the Andaman Islands with special emphasis on the associated macro benthic assemblages. In the past, I have worked on marine macroinvertebrates from rocky, sandy and muddy shores and briefly worked on holothurians and sea turtles. I have majorly worked on the behavioral ecology of the symbiotic sea anemones with crustaceans and fishes.

 
Sameeha Pathan

During my 11th grade, I saw a video of a giant humpback whale breaching, and I completely lost it. Ever since, marine mammals have never once failed to awe me. Getting a masters in Zoology, with Avian and Wildlife biology as my core subject, I thought I was going off-track from my way to become a marine biologist. Instead learning comparative physiology and anatomy across the animal kingdom and watching Dr. Joy Reidenberg’s amazing work, made me appreciate the similarities and contrasts between the terrestrial and the marine mammals i.e. lifestyle strategies; foraging techniques, the way they breath, move, sleep, the way they shape their ecosystem etc. Every organism has something unique to provide, and this project has given me an incredible opportunity to help conserve one of the most neglected and extremely important marine mammal and its habitat i.e. the sea-cows and seagrass meadows.

 
Sagar Rajpurkar

After completing Bachelor's Degree in Zoology from D. G. Ruparel College, Mumbai, I spent 2 years in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands pursuing Master’s in Marine Biology from Pondicherry University. After Masters, I went back to the islands for volunteering for a study on Cetaceans with researcher Mahi Mankeshwar.  Nature exploration has always fascinated me and to keep my interest alive as I involved myself with Marine Life of Mumbai collective, which is involved in citizen science and research on the marine creatures found on this urban jungle’s shoreline. My main areas of interest lie in marine behavioural ecology and marine mammal research.

 

Prachi S. Hatkar

Being wildlife enthusiast, I pursued my graduation and Post-graduate degree in zoology from Mumbai University with specialization in Oceanography and fishery science. After completion of studies, I got opportunity as researcher in CSIR-National Institute of Oceanography. I was fortunate to have experience in Marine ecology, Intertidal survey, Ecological survey of coral reef, Mangrove assessment and marine monitoring projects like Environment Impact assessments. Marine life had always captured my heart and mind. I grabbed second opportunity at marine science project in Wildlife Institute of India as I have lifelong interest in marine biodiversity conservation. Previously, I kept passionately pursued conservation for sea turtles conservation in my coastal state, Maharashtra. I was honored to accredited by National Accreditation Board for Education and Training (NABET) for Functional and Biodiversity expert (FAE) for Ecology and Biodiversity for ‘Category B’ EIAs in Terracon Ecotech Pvt. Ltd. I have ventured into sea life by joined for recovery of charismatic marine mammal (king of the sea)- Dugong to make difference in marine life conservation. My current research interests include understanding ecology of endangered species, diversity assessment of marine life, connecting the conserving ecosystem benefits along with livelihood. In my spare time, I sketch and make cross-stich designs. Due to inclination towards nature, I love to capture wildlife through my photography. I wish to perform my own research which can contribute to the knowledge of the field.

 
Sweta Balasubramanian Iyer

My name is Sweta. I completed my graduation in Zoology from Mumbai University. My interest in wildlife and habitat conservation was gradually generated when I was involved for the first time as a Project Intern in the CAMPA_GIB project. Later, I worked as a Field Assistant for the CAMPA_Dugong project, which sparked my passion for marine mammals. Later, I pursued my Masters in Zoology from Gujarat University. My post-graduation thesis was focused on "Assessing environmental contaminants from critical Dugong habitats of India," where I examined the trace metal pollution in the tissue levels of the Dugongs.
 
Currently, I am employed as a Project Fellow in the "Recovery of Dugong and their habitats in India" at the Wildlife Institute of India, Dehradun, since 2022, where we research dugong habitats, conduct research seagrass assessments, and conduct outreach programs for local stakeholders. As I work toward conserving the species, the complexities of the research, and the marine habitat will never cease to enchant me.

 
DST-INSPIRE Fellow
 
UGC Fellow
 

Sohom Seal,  Ph.D. Scholar

Hailing from a small town of Chandannagar in Bengal, my thirst for exploring nature started ever since my school days through the shady lanes and by-lanes of my hometown, by the meandering bank of river Hooghly. Such aspirations led me to complete my bachelor's in science with Zoology (Hons.) from the University of Calcutta, following that up with a master's in Forestry from Forest Research Institute (FRI), Dehradun. The serene and biodiversity-rich campus of FRI triggered my interest to explore the butterfly diversity, fluttering in contrasting numbers and forms through different seasons. Also, during the course curriculum, I was fascinated by the GIS and Remote Sensing technology used in ecological studies. Completing my post-graduation, I continued to work on the butterfly assemblages to map their diversity in the form of an atlas in different forest types of Uttarakhand.

I am associated with the CAMPA-Dugong team since April 2019 and currently pursuing a Ph.D. in the field of Forest Geo-informatics as a UGC Fellow. My research talks about mapping and modeling of seagrass meadows with particular reference to critical dugong habitats in India. My hobbies lie in the art of photography and am also a self-taught illustrator https://instagram.com/paired_aces

Contact: +91-9411589902 / +91-8981490390
LinkedIN: https://linkedin.com/in/sohom-seal/
ResearchGate: https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Sohom_Seal?ev=hdr_xprf
sohom@wii.gov.in
/ seal.sohom@gmail.com

 
Project Associate
 
Srabani Bose

My interest and gratitude for nature led me to do my masters in Wildlife and biodiversity conservation from North Orissa University and my dissertation was on Prevailing Human Elephant Conflict. After I completed masters in 2018, I joined a local NGO where I was working on mitigation on HEC for couple of months. Then I joined Wildlife Institute of India in November 2018 as Intern in the CAMPA Dugong project where my interest on study of Aquatic habitat got a boost. Now I am working as Project assistant in CAMPA Dugong Project. My field of interest lies on ecological study of Aquatic Habitat, mammals and herpetofauna

 

Vabesh Tripura

After completing a year in the wildlife institute of India working as a graphic designer for the CAMPA- dugong recovery program. I've learned so much about the human and their relations with the wildlife and developed quite an interest to work for wildlife animals both terrestrial and marine species which opened a new chapter in my career where I can contribute as much as I could for the wildlife even though without having any background in the wildlife field. I had no professional training in fine arts or graphic designing but I was confident in my ability to create expressive and interesting pieces that matched the needs for this CAMPA-dugong project.

As i have completed my masters in Disaster Management from Pondicherry University in June 2017. With that, I have gained practical experience through internships at the Assam State Disaster Management Authority (ASDMA) and under a private organization Pragya(NGO). Gaining the experience from working in both private and government sectors and learning how social surveys and awareness programs were carried out has perfectly shaped me to do well in social aspects to spread awareness about the endangered species and human and wildlife conflict etc.

Now that i am promoted in the CAMPA- Dugong project as a project assistant(outreach & awareness) I'm confident in this field to do even better work than before and to contribute even more for the sustainability and betterment for the wildlife of India.

 

Project Assistants

 

Sumit Prajapati

After completing my graduation in Zoology and Chemistry. Later, I joined Master’s Course in Environmental Science from Mumbai University where I have done my dissertation study on "Shark and Ray fishery at Mumbai coast". I also worked as an Intern on a Research project titled "Ecological impact of garbage dumps on terrestrial vertebrates" and volunteered in numerous birds counts in Mumbai.

I am very interested in pursuing my career in the field of 'Wildlife Conservation' and study the behaviour of large marine animals.

 
 
Project Volunteers/Field Assistants/Interns
 
  • Aditya Salvi
  • Akshya Shinde
  • Andrew
  • Bikramaditya Sahoo
  • Herlin Rosmi
  • Madhesh
  • Prasad Gaidhani
  • Rajesh
  • Shivani Patel
  • Mouli Bose
  • Sneha Mane
  • Tarun Das
  • Thangapandi
  • Unnati G.
  • Srabani Bose
  • Rashmi Semwal
  • Ankit Pacha
  • Pradhyuman Sindha
  • Esha Gokhale
  • Harini V.
  • Astha Walia
  • Sonalika Mamgain
  • Adithya Pillai
  • Ashish Gokhale
  • Ankita Anand
  • Bhargav Bhadreshvara
  • Chitrangee Bose
  • Sonal Yadav
  • Kanak Prajapati
  • Satyam Gupta
  • Sandhya Chak
  • Elis Parmar
  • Ronak Maradiya
  • Maksud Chhatra
  • Fatema Hirkani
  • Rajat Joshi
  • Karnik Bose
  • Riddhi Makwana
  • Jyotil Dave 
  • Dheer Bhatt
  • Prakash Doriya
  • Akram Bhaya
  • Hamid Kadar
  • Amisha Nakhwa
  • Shipra Singh
  • Maithili Sawant
  • Shraddha Pillai
  • Charushree Santosh
  • Sneha Baraiya
  • Mansi Dave
  • Sanjana Shetty
  • Leonard Fernandes
  • Aryan Patel
  • Atharva Togattiwar
  • Uzair Kureshi
  • Nachiket Ghag
  • Xavier D'souza
  • Shalini Prajapati
  • Saw Tapori
  • Sameer Kadar
  • Manoj Prabhakar S.
  • Tanmay Gokhale
  • Rajat Pandey
  • Garima Dhiman
  • Glen Bennet Hermon
  • Sreyasa Rajaiah
  • Sasikala V.
  • Ankit Singh
  • Shubham Rawat
  • Mayur Fulmali
  • Amit Kumar
  • Richa Joshi
  • Priyambada Routray
  • Satya Swaroop Nanda
  • Ajay Kumar
  • Sangik Datta
  • Ishani Banerjee
  • Anjali Thevar,
  • Ishani Banerjee,
  • Rajib Saha
  • Taslima Ahmed Hazarika
  • Joel D John
  • Darshita Dudhagara
  • Zahra Makda, Jenisha Shiyani
  • Nitya Bankupal
  • Srigayatridevi Nadar
  • R. Praveen
  • Ajithkumar
  • Saw Tapori
  • Roshani Jethva
 
Previous Investigator/Researchers
 
  • Dr. K. Sivakumar, Principal Investigator
  • Anant Pande - Project Scientist
  • Dr. Marimuthu Nithyanandam - Project Scientist
  • Diksha Dikshit, Project Fellow
  • Sohini Dudhat, Project Fellow
  • Sharad Bayyna, Project Fellow
  • K. Madhu Magesh, Project Fellow
  • Shivani Shashikant Patel, Project Fellow
  • Rukmini Shekhar, Project Fellow
  • P.V.R. Prem Jothi, Research Fellow
  • Devanshi Kukadia, Research Fellow
  • Himani Sain, Project Assistant
  • Deven Mehta, Project Assistant
  • Gem Christian, Project Assistant
 
Project Associate
  • Anagha Biju