28 Sep
09:20 – 10:20 IST
Dr Uma Shaanker
Monday, September 28, 2026
Bio
Uma Shaanker obtained his Master’s degree in Genetics and Plant Breeding and a Ph.D in Crop Physiology from the University of Agricultural Sciences, Bangalore. His research interests include plant evolutionary biology, conservation genetics, bioprospecting, endophyte biology and data mining. After superannuation as Professor and Head, Department of Crop Physiology and School of Ecology and Conservation, University of Agricultural Sciences, Bangalore, he was an ICAR Emeritus Scientist at the University of Agricultural Sciences, Bangalore. From 2019 to 2021 he served as Adjunct Faculty and from 2021 to 2024 he was a Senior Professor, Department of Bioscience and Bioengineering, Indian Institute of Technology, Jammu.
Uma Shaanker is an elected Fellow of the Indian Academy of Sciences, Bangalore. He was a Fulbright Fellow at the University of Massachusetts, Boston, and an Honorary Fellow of the Jawaharlal Nehru Center for Advanced Scientific Research, Bangalore. He is recipient of the Sir CV Raman Young Scientists’ Award and the State Environment Award, Government of Karnataka.
He has published more than 240 peer-reviewed papers, about 30 articles in books and monographs, besides authoring or editing fifteen books. He has served as an expert member on the advisory panels of the Department of Science and Technology, SERB, Department of Biotechnology and Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), Government of India. Along with Prof. Kamal Bawa FRS and Prof. K.N. Ganeshaiah, he is one of the founding trustees of Ashoka Trust For Research In Ecology And The Environment (ATREE).
Abstract: Coming Soon
28 Sep
18:00 – 19:00 IST
Dr. N. S. K. Harsh
M.Sc., Ph.D. (Botany)
Monday, September 28, 2026
Bio
A Fellow of Indian Phytopathological Society of India, has nearly 48 years of research experience in Forest Pathology, Taxonomy of fungi and Mushroom cultivation. He retired as Scientist-G & Head, Forest Pathology Division and Group Coordinator (Research) and Dean (Research) in Forest Research Institute, Dehradun, India. He worked as International Forest Pathology (Disease) Specialist for Lao PDR in an Asian Development Board funded project from 2019-2021.
He has 204 research papers published in national and international journals and edited books, authored 10 books and presented 112 papers in Seminars and Conferences; guided 33 students for Ph.D. degree and > 100 students from various universities of India for their M.Sc. dissertation work. He is delivering lectures to the probationers/trainees of professional forestry courses and graduate and post-graduate students in forest pathology and mycology.
He gives advisory services for tree health and heritage tree conservation to the New Delhi Municipal Council, Delhi Development Authority, Archaeological Survey of India, Central Public Works Department, Bodhgaya Temple Management Committee Gaya, Sai Baba Sansthan Shirdi, Tollygunge Club Kolkata, state forest departments, Woodstock School Mussoorie, Doon School Dehradun, India International Centre New Delhi, APSARA Authority Cambodia and Birla Lao Pulp & Plantations Company, Laos PDR. He is a reviewer for IPBES and IUCN, for national and international journals and a member in various Committees for Universities and Institutes.
Abstract: Coming Soon
30 Sep
09:00 – 10:00 IST
Daniel Fernando
Wednesday, September 30, 2026
Bio
Daniel is a marine biologist and co-founder of Blue Resources Trust, a Sri Lankan marine research and conservation organisation, where he leads the Fisheries and Policy Programme. For over a decade, he has provided technical advice on elasmobranchs related to multilateral environmental agreements, including CITES and CMS, bridging science and policy and advancing sustainable fisheries management. He has previously served as a ministerial advisor, Regional Co-Vice Chair of the IUCN SSC Shark Specialist Group for the Indian Ocean, and Vice Chair of the CMS Scientific Council's Sessional Committee. He is a Fellow of the New England Aquarium's Marine Conservation Action Fund.
Abstract: Coming Soon
30 Sep
18:00 – 19:00 IST
Dr Divya Vasudev
Wednesday, September 30, 2026
Bio
Divya Vasudev works on landscape-scale conservation of species and ecosystems, with a special interest in connectivity and shared spaces. She has expertise in quantitative ecology and is keen on furthering the incorporation of scientific knowledge into conservation decision-making. In 2017, Divya co-founded Conservation Initiatives, to further science-based conservation of threatened wildlife and ecosystems, and build conservation capacity and momentum, with a focus on Northeast India.
Divya’s interests started with observing primate behaviour, but over the years, has expanded to include social-ecological processes shaping conservation in complex dynamic landscapes. Today, she works on various inter-connected themes including spatial ecology, connectivity, species distributions, and human–wildlife interactions; and on Nature’s contributions to people, and strengthening links between nature and people’s wellbeing. She still loves watching animals interact with each other, and spending time in the solace of forests, but strives to ensure her work has real-world implications locally and globally.
Abstract: Coming Soon
01 Oct
09:00 – 10:00 IST
Dr Devapriya Chattopadhyay
Thursday, October 1, 2026
Bio
Devapriya Chattopadhyay is a paleobiologist whose research sits at the intersection of ecology and evolution, with a particular focus on marine mollusks. She earned her PhD in Geology from the University of Michigan and, upon returning to India, began her academic career as an Assistant Professor at IISER Kolkata. She is currently Professor in the Department of Earth and Climate Science at IISER Pune.
Her work centers on a fundamental question: how have marine animal communities responded to environmental change across geological time? To answer this, she bridges the ancient and the living — drawing on both fossil and modern seashells as windows into the past and present. Her research spans fieldwork at fossil sites, underwater observation of living organisms, controlled aquarium experiments, and quantitative statistical modeling. This integrative approach allows her to reconstruct ecological patterns across deep time and connect them to the challenges marine life faces today.
Abstract: Coming Soon
01 Oct
16:50 – 18:00 IST
Mr Gopikrishna Warrier
Thursday, October 1, 2026
Bio
S. Gopikrishna Warrier is an environment journalist based in Thrissur in Kerala. He is presently the editorial director for Mongabay-India, an environment and conservation online publication.
He has written for the India Climate Dialogue, Nature India, Frontline magazine, The News Minute, India Legal, the Times of India, the Hindu and the Hindu Business Line newspaper. His pieces have also been published in the First Post and Forbes India. His stories and blogs can be read at A touch of green.
For a decade starting 1992, he was an environment journalist in Chennai – with Down to Earth magazine and the Hindu Business Line newspaper. Gopi is the former secretary of the Forum of Environmental Journalists in India (FEJI), a professional body for environment journalists in India. In his earlier assignment as the regional environment manager for Panos South Asia, he worked with the media in Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka to enhance journalists’ understanding on climate change and biodiversity.
From 2003 to 2011 he worked with the communication departments of two international agricultural research organisations. He was the media spokesperson for the International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT) at its headquarters at Hyderabad, India. He was the science writer and head of publications at the Africa Rice Center at Cotonou in Benin in West Africa. From 1987 to 1992 he worked in New Delhi with two national-level environment and development NGOs – Action for Food Production (AFPRO) and the Indian National Trust for Art and Cultural Heritage (INTACH).
Abstract: Coming Soon