Geetha Nayak is an ecologist, with a PhD from Pondicherry University, India. She did her post-doctorate from Centre for Agri-Environmental Research, University of Reading, UK; and Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, USA. She is the recipient of prestigious Fulbright-Nehru Post-Doctoral Fellowship. Her research focused on studying the effect of land use intensification on ecosystem services delivered by pollinators in forests and agro-ecosystems. Dr Nayak also pursues and enjoys mountaineering. Before joining GIZ, she led a project on Access and Benefit Sharing at Karnataka Biodiversity Board, Bangalore. At GIZ, Geetha led the Access and Benefit Sharing Partnership project and was based at the National Biodiversity Authority in Chennai. Currently, she is working as a Senior Advisor to the Wetlands project.

Email: geetha.nayak@giz.de

Kunal is an interdisciplinary researcher with over 5 years’ experience in the field of climate change and natural resource management. His expertise lies in using data-driven tools such as scientific modelling, geospatial analysis and environmental finance instruments for biodiversity and ecosystem conservation. Kunal’s systems approach to natural resource management spans across disciplines given his Bachelor’s degree in Economics from St. Xavier’s College, Mumbai followed by a Master’s in Environmental Studies and Resource Management from TERI School of Advanced Studies.

Email: kunal.bharat@giz.de

Avantika is an ecologist with over 5 years’ experience in the field of biodiversity and water management. Her expertise lies in policy research, data analyses, networking with stakeholders, and documentation. She has worked on various aspects of wetland management including challenges of managing wetlands as protected areas; urban and peri-urban wetland management for water sustainability and flood mitigation; and conservation and management of riparian forests and tropical mountain wetlands for water resilience. She has a postgraduate degree in Environmental Biology from University of Delhi and has published her work in peer-reviewed scientific journals and presented the findings at national and international conferences.

Email: avantika.bhaskar@giz.de

Shambhavi is working towards merging her research background with policy development and grassroot implementation. Her core interest lies in ecological research and community outreach.

Prior to GIZ, she worked in the Natural Heritage Division of INTACH where she was involved in exploration, documentation and conservation planning of natural heritage including Rapid Assessment of Ramsar Sites of India and Sustainable Agriculture in Bundelkhand Region. She has interned with the Environment and Forest Division (Natural Resources and Environment Vertical) of NITI Aayog. She holds a postgraduate degree in Environmental Studies and graduate degree in Biological Sciences from University of Delhi.

Email: shambhavi.krishna@giz.de

Prasanth Prakhalathan did his post graduate degree in Zoology from Scott Christian College, Nagercoil. He has a keen interest in wildlife biology and has worked as a consultant in the Snake Bite Mitigation and awareness programmes in Tamil Nadu. He was also involved in various outreach and research projects focusing on conserving natural ecosystems in southern Tamil Nadu. At GIZ, Prasanth supports training youth and community members to become bird watching field guides in Tamil Nadu and Himachal Pradesh and field data collection for wetlands management.

Email: biodiv.india@giz.de

Dr. Khera holds a doctorate in Forest Ecology, and advanced trainings on Managing Global Governance, Climate Change and Disaster Risk Reduction. She has over 19 years of experience of working on conservation development issues including Urban biodiversity, biodiversity inclusive EIA, climate change adaptation, disaster management and capacity development approaches. Before joining the HWC project, she was responsible for coordinating the project measures in Gujarat and the National level Capacity Development under the Indo-German coastal marine project (CMPA). 

Email: neeraj.khera@giz.de

Vimarsh holds master’s degree in Wildlife Sciences. He has worked on various conservation related projects such as diseases and injury  in urban avifauna, Indian horseshoe crab conservation in coastal villages of Odisha. Currently he is working with GIZ as a Technical Expert with the Human Wildlife Conflict Mitigation project since 2018. He is also currently pursuing his PhD on the landscape level planning for human-wildlife conflict mitigation.

Email: vimarsh.sharma@giz.de

Dibyendu holds a doctorate in wildlife science from Wildlife Institute of India. He has over eight years of comprehensive experience in wildlife research and conservation across various taxa all over central, western and northern India. He has worked on striped hyenas as a model species to understand underlying reasons of carnivore group formation as part of his doctoral studies. He has also worked on reintroduced tiger population in Sariska Tiger Reserve. Dibyendu is now interested in translating research outcomes to implementable conservation strategies to mitigate human wildlife conflict. He’s also a cartoonist and loves to make humorous cartoons on issues related to wildlife conservation.

Email: dibyendu.mandal@giz.de

Partha completed his doctoral studies with Environmental Sciences from University of Kalyani. For his doctoral studies he conducted extensive research on impact of changing urban conditions on the vertebrate fauna. After completion of doctoral studies Partha worked extensively on conservation of high-altitude fauna in the north-eastern state of Sikkim and parts of northern Bengal. During course of his assignments, he stressed on importance of community participation towards conservation of key wildlife species like Red Panda, Snow Leopard and Asiatic Black Bear. He also undertook extensive research on community perception towards situations of human-wildlife conflict, with special reference to temperate regions.

Email: biodiv.india@giz.de

With a Ph.D. in Geography and P.G Diploma in Remote Sensing and GIS, Aparajita has 20 years of professional experience with national and international projects on geospatial applications. She has extensively used and demonstrated usage of Information Technology (GIS, MIS) in project planning, implementing, monitoring and evaluation for various national flagship missions (RAY, Smart Cities, PMAY etc.) and international projects for donors like DFID, USAID, EU, SDC, World Bank including private funders. She also played key role in establishing GIS and MIS at various organisations and capacity development of staff in Geoinformatics and MIS.

Email: biodiv.india@giz.de

 Sanjay holds a Ph.D. degree in Forestry with specialisation in Landscape Ecology and has an extensive experience of 18 years spanning in the fields of integrated natural resources management (INRM), climate change adaptation, forestry, agroforestry and rural development sectors. He has been involved in designing, management and implementation of various projects in these fields.  He started his profession with NGOs and later worked with research institutions and GIZ. Prior to this GIZ assignment, he has worked with the International Centre for Research in Agroforestry (ICRAF) for research management in South Asia.  At ICRAF, he was also leading the Sentinel Landscape project in Western Ghats - which was CGIAR’s (Consultative Group for International Agricultural Research) flagship programme on Forests Trees and Agroforestry.

Email: sanjay.tomar@giz.de

Satyan, an expert in the field of natural resource management has more than 11 years of experience in various sectors like watersheds, forestry, livelihoods, environment management, and climate change. He holds an M.Phil. degree in Natural Resource Management from the Indian Institute of Forest Management. Satyan has worked for DFID funded Forest Sector Reforms Project in Himachal Pradesh.

Email: satyan.chauhan@giz.de

Ritesh Sharma is an Advisor with HP-FES project. He is Masters in Forestry with specialisation in Economics from FRI, Dehradun. He has previously worked with NABARD as Forestry expert and for a UK based development organisation where he coordinated natural resource management based projects. He has research experience with Forest Research Institute, Dehradun. His exposure includes working on biodiversity conservation, climate change adaptation as well as application on Environmental economics. Presently he is looking after implementation of Forest Ecosystem service based demonstrations and learning from TEEB India Initiative through PES pilots. He enjoys bird watching and nature photographer in his leisure time.

Email: ritesh.sharma@giz.de

Harish Kumar works as driver for HPFES, Shimla and takes care of some additional responsibilities of assisting in administration work and organising events. Mr. Kumar has prior 8 years’ experience of working with GTZ, Shimla from 2004 to 2011 under WASH and PRI projects. After that he joined Acme d’ ace, an adventure sports company where he handled operations of Himachal region. In his spare time he goes for trekking and hikes.

Email: harish.kumar@giz.de

Jyoti Kashyap holds a Master’s degree in Natural Resources Management from TERI School of Advanced Studies, New Delhi. She is undergoing PhD in Wildlife Ecology and Management from the same University. Since 2013, she is working as a freelancer on projects related to biodiversity conservation and management with different organisations such as IUCN (International Union for Conservation of Nature), GFF (Green Future Foundation) and GIZ. She is specialized in vegetation science and wildlife ecology. She also gives field training about ecology and biodiversity to different groups of people such as local community, corporates and students . Her hobbies are bird and butterfly watching and travelling.

Email: jyoti.kashyap@giz.de

With great love for the field of creative design, Aashima’s interest lies in combining various facets of the traditional world with modern techniques of communication. She has completed her undergraduate degree in Communication Design from the National Institute of Fashion Technology, Kangra. She likes working with different aspects of design like graphics and displays, along with photography, management and advertising. As an intern she worked with the HP-FES project to prepare outreach material for the village communities and photograph the project’s demonstration sites. Prior to GIZ, Aashima interned with NEst by Arpit Agarwal, a lifestyle brand inspired by the culture and crafts of the North-East, at Guwahati (Assam), and at the Himachal Pradesh Tourism Department in the fields of marketing and promotion.

Email: aashima.negi@giz.de

Meenakshi is a graduate in Botany (Hons.) from Gargi College, Delhi University and a post graduate in Forestry from Forest Research Institute, Dehradun. She has been working in the field of environment and forestry from past 6 years. Prior to GIZ, she was working in MoEFCC as UNDP Consultant looking after Sustainable Development Goals and international agreements related to Environment. She has also worked with Delhi Forest Department and at Natural Heritage Division of INTACH.

Email: biodiv.india@giz.de

Neha is a sustainable development professional with over 10 years of experience in community development, environmental management, and stakeholder consultations within the public, private, and social sector. An alumna of London School of Economics & Political Science (Batch 2015-16), she has a focused interest in forest ecosystem management and strengthening sustainable livelihoods of rural populations and local communities. She is working with the FES team as a Technical Expert at GIZ Office Shimla, Himachal Pradesh, India.

Email: biodiv.india@giz.de

Akhilesh has joined “Sustainable Management of Forest Ecosystem Services” project as Technical Expert under the Indo-German Biodiversity Programme. His education is in forestry (economics and management) from Forest Research Institute, Dehradun. In his previous assignments, he has worked on forest ecosystem services, nature-based solutions, REDD+, vulnerability assessment, landscape management planning, forest management planning, forest management certification and other forestry related projects. He will be based at Dehradun and will be closely working with various stakeholders for implementation of the project activities.

Email: biodiv.india@giz.de

Doctorate in Forestry with specialization in Agro forestry from Indian Council of Forestry Research and Education (ICFRE) and I have oriented whole professional life along the goals of sustainability, green development, and resource conservation. Moreover, I have over 17 years of experience in research and development sector of Forestry and Agriculture. I am a specialist in carrying out agriculture/agro forestry and rural livelihood projects. I worked in different strata of organizational structure viz., researcher, implementer, organizer, manager and planner in various development programmes of GIZ since 2008. During my career, I have executed projects of prestigious organizations such as UNDP, World Bank, NABARD and Bread for the World etc.

Email: Advisor, PBAB

Pradnya is an agriculture engineer. She has completed her B.Tech in Agricultural Engineering and M.Tech in Soil and Water Conservation Engineering from Mahatma Phule Agricultural University, Rahuri. Prior to GIZ, she worked with the Watershed Organization Trust for 3 years. She has worked on development of a mobile application for agro advisories to farmers, training and capacity building of farmers for climate resilient agricultural activities and economics of land degradation. She has also worked on impact assessment of watershed management projects with the help of Remote Sensing and GIS, soil health and GHG emission assessment from agricultural fields.

Email: biodiv.india@giz.de