Akanksha Pandey
Akanksha is an anthropology graduate with a master’s degree in Development and Labor Studies from JNU. She worked as a qualitative researcher for three years in educational policy and research in India before switching to wildlife and conservation. For the last two years, she has worked on multiple short-term projects focused on the behaviour of non-human primates. Currently, she is affiliated with WCS-India as a Nature-Culture Fellow exploring human-crocodile interactions in Goa.
Fellowship Report - Human-Crocodile Interactions in Goa
Pavithran M M
Pavithran is a young social work postgraduate with a specialisation in community development. He has interned in various non-governmental organisations such as WWF-India, Action Aid India, and Bodhi Tree Foundation. He is passionate about working in the areas of green social work - environmental conservation, protection of Indigenous cultures and practices, and human-wildlife conflict mitigation. His interests include photography and writing poetry. He believes Environmental Journalism can be a good platform which combines his diverse skills and interests, from being trained in photography to a keen interest in creative writing and social work. His wishes to draw from his practice of photography during the WCS-India fellowship to create a photo essay on people’s perspectives towards gaur, folktales that revolve around gaur and the level of coexistence shared by humans and gaur in the Coonoor region of the Nilgiris District in Tamil Nadu.
Fellowship Report - Human-Gaur Relationships in Kotagiri
Sahamatha
Sahamatha did her master’s degree in Physics from the University of Mysore with a specialisation in Theoretical Physics. Her interests lie in interdisciplinary research - exploring the interface of natural and social sciences and ethnography of education. Having diverse interests made her explore multiple study areas. She taught particle physics at the college level, worked in the remote villages of Maharashtra - understanding learners’ ideas and sense-making in Science Education, and collaborated with folk musicians from Rajasthan, Kutch and Malwa exploring the cultures of teaching and learning folk music in different communities. At WCS-India, she’ll be studying human-whale interactions in Karwar, Karnataka.
Fellowship Report - Human-Whale Interactions in Karwar
Aralikatte
Bengaluru, Karnataka's capital, is known as the "Garden City" for its parks and green spaces. As the city expanded, it absorbed surrounding villages, including several aralikattes. These sacred fig tree sites, integral to the community, have been preserved over time. Aralikattes are more than just places of worship; they serve as community hubs. Those near roads provide shelter for bus passengers, vendors, and people resting, while aralikattes within temples are dedicated mainly to worship.
Fellowship report - Aralikatte