Anindita Bhadra is a behavioural biologist. She is a Professor at the Department of Biological Sciences,Indian Institute of Science Education and Research Kolkata. She is engaged in studying the behaviour, ecology and cognitive abilities of dogs using the free-ranging /street dogs in India. She is particularly interested in understanding the evolution of the dog-human relationship. Anindita is the recipient of the INSA young scientist award, SERB women excellence award, IAP young scientist award and the Janaki Ammal National Women Bioscientist award Young category 2021. She was involved in the founding of the Indian National Young Academy of Science (INYAS) in 2014, and was the Chairperson of INYAS during its first three years of existence. She was a member of the Global Young Academy, where she served as a Co-Chair during 2020-21. Anindita believes in the responsibility of a scientist in engaging with the society and is actively engaged in various science outreach activities,science diplomacy and policy. She serves on the editorial board of several journals and Frontiers Policy Labs, and is an advisor of the Open Research Europe community gateway on Evolution and Ecology. A mother of two, she is also a professional thespian and leads the Bangla theatre group mukhOsh with her husband.

Chandrima Home is trained as an ecologist and is currently an Assistant Professor and Head of Research and Collaborations at Srishti Manipal Institute of Art, Design and Technology (SMI), Manipal Academy of Higher Education. Her primary interests lie in understanding species ecology in the context of human-induced global changes, with a special emphasis on carnivores and urban spaces. Her PhD research examined the multiple dimensions of threats posed by free-ranging dogs to both people and wildlife in the Trans-Himalayan landscapes. Combining field-based insights with research administration expertise, she builds interdisciplinary research ecosystems at her workplace, fostering ecological thinking among art and design students while linking science, culture, and community engagement in city contexts.

Harish Kumar Tiwari is a veterinary epidemiologist and DBT/Wellcome Trust India Alliance Intermediate Fellow at the Indian Institute of Technology Guwahati. His work is dedicated to supporting dog-mediated rabies elimination in India through a One Health approach, with a focus on humane dog population management, community engagement, disease surveillance, and access to rabies prevention. He has worked with the University of Sydney, Ausvet Pty Ltd, and previously served as a commissioned officer in the Indian Army. His experience spans rabies control, free- roaming dog ecology, antimicrobial resistance, veterinary public health, and capacity-building for infectious disease detection and response in India and the Asia-Pacific region. Harish is committed to working with communities, government agencies, veterinarians, and civil society partners to develop practical, humane, and evidence-based solutions for rabies elimination in India.

Akanksha Rathore is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Computer Science at BITS Pilani, Hyderabad. Her research lies at the intersection of AI, behavioural ecology, and biodiversity monitoring. She leads the DSCOVER Group (Data Science for Computational Ecology Research), which develops computational tools for tracking animal movement, interpreting social behaviour, and supporting ecosystem restoration. Her work spans UAV-based wildlife monitoring, AI-driven analysis of collective behaviour, and interactive eco-informatics platforms. Akanksha completed her Ph.D. at the Centre for Ecological Sciences, IISc Bangalore, where she studied coordination in animal groups. Bridging ecology and computation, her research aims to uncover patterns in nature and build scalable, data-driven tools for conservation science.

My research focuses on plant–animal interactions in tropical forests, forest dynamics and tree phenology, and the impacts of humans on wildlife. For 30 years, my team and I have led long-term monitoring and conservation of hornbills and trees in the Eastern Himalaya, while more recently building alliances with communities and organizations through training in forest restoration and nature education in North-east India. I serve as Co-Chair (Asia) of the IUCN SSC Hornbill Specialist Group. I have written several children’s books, co-authored Trees of Arunachal Pradesh: A Field Guide, co-edited At the Feet of Living Things, and published over 60 peer-reviewed articles. I enjoy birdwatching, photographing birds and plants, and maintaining eBird lists. My work has received awards including the National Geographic Emerging Explorer Award and the Whitley Fund for Nature Award. I am a Senior Scientist and currently serving as Director at NCF

Bilal Habib is a Scientist at the Wildlife Institute of India (WII), specialising in wildlife ecology, conservation biology, movement ecology, and human–wildlife interactions. His research focuses on understanding the ecology and conservation of large carnivores, grassland specialists, and high-altitude species across diverse Indian landscapes. He has worked extensively on wolves, dholes, tigers, leopards, cheetahs, fishing cats, marmots, elephants, and the Great Indian Bustard. His pioneering work in radio-telemetry has significantly advanced knowledge of animal movement, habitat use, dispersal, corridor ecology, and responses to anthropogenic pressures such as roads and linear infrastructure. Bilal has played a key role in national conservation initiatives, including tiger landscape connectivity, road ecology mitigation planning, and human-wildlife conflict. His work bridges science, policy, and management to support evidence-based conservation and long-term wildlife monitoring across India.

Parth Sarathi Roy is a senior Earth Observation and geospatial scientist specializing in remote sensing, GIS, and spatial analytics. His research focuses on land use/land cover dynamics, biodiversity assessment, and climate–land interactions. He has led major national projects integrating satellite data with systematic field sampling and ground observations for validation and modelling. His work also encompasses wildlife habitat analysis, landscape connectivity and corridor assessment, and species distribution modelling, supporting conservation planning and biodiversity management. He has contributed to the development of geospatial frameworks for identifying critical habitats, assessing fragmentation, and enabling science-based wildlife management strategies. His work advances GeoAI, spatial modelling, and decision-support systems, enabling robust, data-driven approaches for sustainable land management, ecosystem resilience, and policy-relevant environmental planning.

Uma Ramakrishnan is a molecular ecologist and conservation genetics professor at NCBS TIFR since 2005. Uma has worked on standardizing methods to work with non-invasive samples in wildlife and conservation, and pioneered the use of genomic data for endangered species. Her work has contributed to our understanding India’s biogeography, population connectivity and its landscape correlates, and in identifying isolated populations of tigers. She is also very interested in disease ecology, and is currently working on understanding potential zoonotic spillover in Northeast India. Uma is passionate about evidence-based approaches to conservation, mentoring, outreach and communication.