Team
Priya Poonia
Priya has over six years of experience in wildlife research, conservation, and management, focussing on counter-wildlife trafficking. At WCS-India, her work spans stakeholder engagement, capacity development, project management, and execution of illegal wildlife trade mitigation strategies. Her work is guided by the overarching principle of translating complex research outcomes into implementable strategies for wildlife conservation and management. Priya is currently overseeing the CWT program’s work in the Northeast region and is interested in exploring ways of incorporating intersectional aspects of IWT, including gender, in the mitigation strategies.
She holds a Master’s degree in Wildlife Sciences and is passionate about wildlife conservation through collaborative efforts. Before joining WCS-India, Priya worked with organizations such as World Wild Fund for Nature-India, GIZ-India, and Teach For Green on diverse conservation issues.
Aditi Mishra
Aditi is a postgraduate in Environment and Development from Ambedkar University, Delhi. Her interests include wildlife trafficking, storytelling and understanding human-nature interactions.
Arundati Saikia
Arundhati is a postgraduate from Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS), Guwahati, in Ecology, Environment and Sustainable Development. With a diverse educational background in political science, women's studies, ecology, environment and sustainable development, she has experience in documenting traditional ecological knowledge and practices of various tribes and communities in Assam. She takes a profound interest in unravelling the biocultural heritage of diverse indigenous communities, which offers valuable insights into sustainable living practices in harmony with the environment. Before joining WCS-India, she prepared an action-based research project for the Assam State Disaster Management Authority.
Lokesh Mam
Lokesh is a graduate from Punjab Technical University and for the last 5 years has been actively involved with the Forest Department in Kamlang Tiger Reserve. He was also a Green Hub Fellow and subsequently worked with Titli Trust in Uttarakhand. He specialises in documenting and curating various videos based on human-animal conflict, biodiversity conservation and community-based ecotourism. Along with a passion for photography and video documentation in wildlife conservation, he also actively initiates and volunteers in multiple social concerns and awareness campaigns.
Ng Bishwanath
Ng joined WCS-India initially as a volunteer after completing his Bachelors course on botany and after quitting some IT company in Bangalore in 2010. From the time of volunteering till present, he has been associated with the team working on 'monitoring tiger and its prey species'. In between he has also worked with other teams with different projects for a brief period of time. He has worked in the major tiger reserves in Karnataka and several other protected areas and parts of Kerala. Now, for the past three field seasons he has been working in parts of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana State.
Nirmal Kulkarni
Nirmal, a Senior Consultant at WCS-India, has over 25 years of experience as an ecologist, herpetologist, and conservation photographer. He holds degrees in Applied Art and Environment and Ecology. Nirmal serves on the Goa State Biodiversity Board and the Viper Specialist Group IUCN. He has discovered five amphibian species and established field stations in the Northern Western Ghats. He focuses on combating illegal wildlife trade and conserving large mammal habitats outside protected areas. In his free time, he enjoys creating art, reading Indian history, and promoting love for snakes. Nirmal has also been engaging with stakeholders to document the acceptance of alternative skins to Bengal monitor lizard skin for Ghumats, a traditional percussion instrument, in Goa.
Trishanti Paul
Trishanti is a postgraduate in Ecology, Environment, and Sustainable Development (EESD) from Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS), Guwahati. Her work involves managing the overall illegal wildlife trade database and understanding and informing about the emerging trends related to locations and species. Her interest lies in exploration and storytelling through visuals. Outside work, she enjoys photography and trekking.